


The Unexpected Protector

by buckyscrystalqueen



Series: The Unexpected Protector [1]
Category: The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, Walking Dead AU - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 08:41:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16869766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyscrystalqueen/pseuds/buckyscrystalqueen





	1. Chapter 1

“Just another Friday night, am I right?” Your childhood best friend, Jade, asked as she applied yet another unnecessary layer of lipstick to her bright red lips in your bathroom mirror. You shrugged as you tossed your eyeliner on the marble counter top.

“Don’t you ever feel like we need change?” You asked her as you grabbed your mascara.

“Sometimes.” She agreed as she smacked her lips together and pursed them out as far as she could. “But, then I remember that something different for us means either sitting at home and staring at a wall all day, or actually being cops wives. We’d have to go to those boring dinners and sit on committees and shit.” She shook her head and looked over at you as you pulled down the sides of your black, star covered, three-quarter length sleeve dress over your ass. “You and I aren’t meant to be on committees.”

“Valid point.” You said as you took a step back and flipped your long brown hair over your shoulders. With a small shrug, you pushed your DD cup breasts up a little more, and stepped into your black high heeled shoes. “Alright, let’s club it up.” Jade cheered, grabbed her bag off the counter, and followed you out of the bathroom into the master bedroom of your Park Avenue house on the Upper East Side.

The Sapphire was one of the most high end clubs Manhattan had ever seen, and after it opened, it was the only club you would go to. The exclusivity of it was enticing and with your social connections, and the fact that your most of the time, absent husband was the chief of police, you never had an issue getting in the front door. Just like every Friday and Saturday night you were there, the place was packed with bodies, and small wisps of weed smoke were visible momentarily in the dancing blue lights.

“Drink?” You called out to Jade as you lead her through the crowd toward the bar with her fingers gripped tight in yours. She nodded her head and danced along after you to the unnecessarily loud music. You huffed a laugh and shook your head at her as you pulled her the rest of the way to the bar under the off limits cat walk that circled the entire space. You ordered two cosmos and passed one off to your friend seconds before a fight broke out a few feet away from you.

“Watch!” Jade yelled as she pulled you into her side seconds before one of the guys in the fight slammed into the bar where you just were. You let out a small squeak and tried to curl into her as another large man was shoved backwards into you, nearly knocking you to the floor.

“Get ‘em out of here!” Someone yelled as Jade moved you off to the side out of the way.

“You OK?” She asked as she took the empty drink cup from your hand. You nodded and smiled at her.

“I’m fine. But I’m definitely not getting another drink.” She laughed in understanding as you pointed toward the dance floor where a few other friends were already dancing. “Let’s dance.”

——

Negan stood on the balcony outside of his office, watching the breathtakingly gorgeous woman take a slightly shaky step away from his bar toward the dance floor. His eyes barely darted over to the asshole that had slammed into you, who owed him a few hundred thousand dollars in gambling debts, and was being escorted out of the bar, before he found you again. 

For the first time in his life, time stood still, and the room seemed to disappear as he watched the way your chest length, wavy hair bounced as you danced. Even in the dark club, your green eyes were the most stunning things he had ever seen until he saw your smile. He took a half step forward to the rail, gripped the metal tight, and he knew he needed to fuck you.

“Get her up here.” He growled to his right hand man, Big Sam, as he pointed down at you. “Girl in the stars.” The man nodded his head and ducked past him as he kept your eyes on you. He could feel himself growing impatient as Sam seemed to take his time making his way through the crowd to get to you. 

He mumbled ‘come on’ under his breath as you looked away from your friend for a moment, before following Sam’s gesture to where Negan was standing, unseen, in the shadows. He let out a small sigh of relief when you told your friend you’d be back. He stepped back into his office and moved quickly to hide the gun that was on his desk. He poured two drinks and picked both glass tumblers up as Big Sam pulled open the office door and gestured you inside.

“Thank you, Sam.” He said with a smile as you stepped hesitantly into the surprisingly large room. “To make up for the one you lost.”

“I’m sorry?” You asked as you looked up at the well dressed man that was leaning against a large, mahogany desk.

“The drink my moronic employee spilled on the floor.” He said as he gestured to you with the glass. “My way of apologizing.”

“Well if that’s not first class service, I don’t know what is.” You said with a smile as you took a step toward him and took the glass from his long fingers. “Thank you, Mr…”

“Negan.” He said with a smile as he kept his brown eyes locked on yours. “Just Negan.” You returned his smile and nodded your head.

“(Y/N).” He gently tapped his glass against yours and took a sip before gesturing to the black, leather couch that ran along the side of the red painted walls.

“So, (Y/N), do you come here often?”

“Every Friday and Saturday night since you opened.” You told him as you pulled down your dress and sat down on the comfortable couch. “I take it you own the place?”

“I do.” He said with a slow nod as he sat back against the arm of the couch and rested his arm over the back. “One of fucking many in Manhattan that I own.”

“Well you’re not one to brag.” You teased with a small smile as you crossed your legs, and took a sip of your drink. He studied you for a moment, and wondered if you were going to make this easy or complicated for him.

“May I ask you something?” He questioned as he watched the tip of your tongue slide across your top lip. You gave him a subtle nod, and rested the glass on your thigh. “Do you know how fucking beautiful you are?” Your eyes went wide as you sat up a little straighter.

“Oh! Oh, I’m married.” You said as you showed him your left hand and the giant rock on your finger.

“For now.” He said with a shrug as he lifted his glass to his lips. “But that can change.” You shook your head and slowly stood up from the couch.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong impression of me.” You muttered as you set your drink down on the table. You took a step back toward the door and thanked God when Negan didn’t move to get up. “I have to go.”

“Enjoy your night, (Y/N).” He said with a subtle tilt of his glass. He licked his bottom lip and chuckled to himself as you walked quickly out of the room to go back to your friends. “Sam!” He called out as he swirled the contents of his drink and drank it in one gulp. When his employee walked in, he gestured to the door as he got up off the couch. “Follow her. I wanna know fucking everything.”

~~~~~~~~~

“He propositioned you?” Jade whisper shouted as the two of you floated on rafts in the pool on the fifth floor of your ostentatious house the next morning. “Is that why you just up and left?” You shushed her loudly and glanced up at your husband, Christian, who was running on the treadmill in the glassed in gym that overlooked the pool. Not that he ever paid you any mind anymore unless he was pissed off at something at work. Then he took his anger out on you.

“Yes.” You said with a nod as you looked back over at her. “He told me I was beautiful and when I told him I was married, he just said for now.”

“Damn.” She said as she leaned back on her float. “You lucky bitch.”

“How am I lucky?” You hissed.

“Honey, do you know who that is?” You cocked your eyebrows at her and shook your head as she glanced up at Christian to make sure he was still paying attention to the TV. “That’s Negan… the Negan. He’s the head of the Mafia.”

“No!” You exclaimed with a shocked growl.

“Bible. How did you not know that?” You shrugged as she picked up her drink from the cup holder on the arm rest of her chair. “I hear he’s a good lay.”

“Stop.” You giggled as you carefully brushed your fingers through the water to turn yourself toward her more. “I’m married.”

“Yea, to that prick.” She said as she gestured to the raised part of the fifth floor with her eyes. “(Y/N)…”

“I know.” You sighed as you rested your arm on the arm rest and your cheek on your fingertips.

“Well, I’m gunna keep saying it until you listen. He’s got you all fucked up in the head, (Y/N). I don’t know why you’re still with him.”

“Jade, please.” You said as you picked your head up and looked over at her. “Just drop it?”

“No can do.” She said with a shake of her head. “Not until you get your head out of his ass.”

“(Y/N)?” You looked up at Christian almost fearfully as he grabbed his towel off a table by the door on his way out of gym. “I’ll be home late tonight.” You nodded at him as you sat up, and took your sunglasses off.

“Do you know what t…”

“Late.” He interrupted as he headed over to the elevator.

“Oh!” You breathed and nodded. “OK, baby. I love…” the rest of your sentence fell off as he stepped into the elevator without even looking back at you. “…you. He does that a lot, doesn’t he?” You asked as you looked over at Jade. She bobbed her head at you and shrugged.

“Every fucking day. But you don’t listen to me.”

“Shut up.” You growled as you dropped your sunglasses back down on your face.

“You should sleep with Negan.” She said as she got off the raft and sank down into the water. “Maybe it will get the stick out of your ass…”

“Let’s go shopping.” You said as you rolled off your raft toward the stairs. “I’m done with this conversation, Jade.”

“Fine. You win.” She groaned as she pushed the raft out of the way and followed you out of the pool. “For now. But this isn’t over!”

——

“Hey, boss?” Big Sam said as he stepped into Negan’s home office not even twelve hours after he had been sent to follow you. “You’re never gunna believe this.” Negan didn’t take his eyes off the books he was looking over.

“Make it quick.” He growled.

“Boss. That girl? She’s the wife of the Chief of Police.” Negan dropped his pen and looked up over his black rimmed glasses. A smile stretched across his face as he took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair.

“Well fuck me.” He chuckled as he rested his elbows on the arms of his chair, steepling his fingers in front of his chin. “This is an interesting fucking twist. Makes conquering her so much more fucking fun.”

“(Y/N) Wilson, formally (Y/L/N). She’s 31.” Sam said as he pulled up his notepad to read off the information he had found out about you so far. “Doesn’t work. She frequents Page Six on a regular basis with all the charity events and other social events she attends. She lives in a six story house on 76th and Park with douche bag Wilson and her little Pomeranian. Been married six years. She comes from family money and get this. Her net worth is 1.7 billion dollars.” Negan whistled and arched his eyebrows.

“Damn. What else you got?”

“Well.” Sam said as he took a seat in front of the desk. He sighed and flipped to the next page of his notebook with a shake of his head. “You’re not gunna like this boss.”

“Go on.” Negan said as he leaned forward to rest his arms on his desk.

“She’s in an abusive relationship. Cops have been called to her house seven times in the last four months but no arrests have been made. She’s been photographed a couple different times with black eyes…”

“The fuck?!” Negan shouted as he leapt to his feet; the need to add you to his list of conquests completely replaced by the need to save you. “He’s fucking beating her? I’ll kill that mother fucker.”

“Boss! He’s the chief of police.”

“I don’t give a fuck! Address.”

“Boss.” Sam tried as Negan grabbed his phone off the desk.

“Give me the fucking address unless you wanna fucking join him in the fucking bay!” He roared. His face started to tint red and the vein in his neck began to bulge in his fury so Sam instantly grabbed a pen off the table. He wrote the address down on a clean sheet of paper, which Negan snatched before the ink dried. “Get my fucking car.” He growled as he stormed out of the office on a mission.

——

“What are you doing, Chewie?” You cooed as you stepped over your small, brown, Pomeranian who was contently chewing on his kong toy in the middle of your closet floor. “Right in the middle of the floor, aren’t you?” You giggled as you stepped over him to put away clothes from your newest shopping trip and weed out old ones you didn’t wear to donate to charity like you did every few months. “Always in my way, baby boy. You always gotta be in my way, don’t you?”

“Ms. Wilson?” You looked toward the door of your closet with a smile as you tossed a few old nicer shirts onto the bench seat that ran along the middle of your long closet. You smiled at your maid, Mary, as she took a step into your closet. “You have a gentleman caller.”

“Did he give you a name?” You asked as you set the empty hangers in your hand down on the bench.

“He said it was Negan. He also said that you knew him.” You paused for a moment in your bedroom as Chewbacca jumped to his feet with the end of his toy in his mouth so he wouldn’t get left behind. 

“Damn it.” You growled as you headed past the woman. “This is gunna be fun.” You stepped into the elevator and waited a second for her and your dog to follow you before pulling the old gate closed and hitting the garden floor button.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. He insisted.” Mary said nervously so you gave her a small smile.

“It’s alright, Mare.” You reassured as the elevator came to a stop on the first floor. She returned your smile and opened the gate for you. You gave her upper arm a gentle squeeze and stepped out into the small hallway that lead past the grand spiral staircase into the foyer.

“You got a nice place.” Negan said as he pushed off the front door frame and pulled a toothpick from between his lips.

“How did you find me?” You asked as you stopped in front of him and picked up Chewie.

“I have my fucking ways.” He said as his brown eyes dragged down your curvaceous figure in a pair of short cotton shorts and a plain black tank top, and back up to your green eyes. You cocked your eyebrow at him as he gestured into your house. “Gunna invite me in?” Your eyes narrowed and you shook your head.

“What do you want, Negan?”

“What, can’t a guy simply…”

“No.” You interrupted with a shake of your head. “No, you can’t show up here. Negan, you’re… you’re, you’re…”

“Go on.” He said with a chuckle as he put the toothpick back in his mouth.

“You’re a mob boss!” You hissed with a glance over your shoulder to make sure no one heard you, even though the only other person in your house at the moment was Mary, who you believed was back in the unnecessary formal dining room, dusting.

“And you’re the wife of the fucking police chief.” He said with a nod. “Why the fuck does that stop you from inviting me in? It’s only polite…”

“Negan.” You groaned as you shifted your wiggly puppy to your other arm.

“Is it back here?” He asked as he gestured down the hall. “Because I guess I’ll just let myself in…”

“Goddamn it.” You growled as you turned on your bare feet and stomped toward the stairs. “Fine, whatever.” You heard him chuckle as he followed you up the stairs to the second floor where your living room, library, and one of your two bars were. You set Chewie down at the top of the stairs and he instantly dropped the kong toy on the floor and ran into the living room to get a new toy. You sighed, grabbed the kong, and followed after him.

“Wow.” Negan said as he walked into the massive room that took up the whole front part of the second floor; nearly thirty feet wide by twenty feet across. “This is…”

“Yea.” You said with a nod as you gestured for him to take seat on the couch. “Way to big for just one person.”

“What about your husband?” He asked, causing you to realize what you said.

“Well, I meant two. It’s just… I…”

“Spend most of your time here alone since your fucking abusive dick bag of a husband spends more time at work than he does being a good fucking husband?” Your jaw dropped and your head whipped toward him as he leaned back against your couch as if it was something he did every day. “Yea.” He said softly with a nod. “I know about the fucking abuse. Like I said, I have my fucking ways.”

“He doesn’t do it anymore.” You whispered as you turned sideways on the chair you were in, and pulled your feet up on it for protection.

“Doesn’t fucking matter.” He said with a shake of his head. “He’s a piece of shit, scum bag, (Y/N), and you deserve better…”

“Don’t you think I know that?” You snapped as you looked over at him. “I get it, alright. You and Jade, both; it’s all I fucking hear anymore!” He cocked his eyebrow as you slammed your fist down on the arm rest of your chair. “I can’t fucking do a thing about it, OK? He’s a fucking cop. THE fucking cop. I’ve tried having him arrested for assault but that didn’t do shit. So I keep my fucking distance which, in a seven story house, is easy as fuck.”

“Then leave him.” He said as he leaned forward toward you.

“I can’t.” You said with a shake of your head. “I own this house, and I can’t kick him out of it. No judge in town will dare sign off on an eviction notice…”

“Then let me handle it.” You shook your head as tears welled in your eyes.

“You can’t.” You whispered. “No one can help me.”

“I can.” He said softly with a nod of his head. “I can help.” A few tears fell from from your eyes as you shook your head again.

“No, you can’t.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were standing in your bathroom, finishing your curled up-do for the gala you would be attending that night, when Christian, who was home way earlier than you expected, stormed into the room with a look of rage you hadn’t seen in almost a month.

“You let a felon into my house?” He growled as he grabbed your arm, and yanked you away from the counter to face him.

“What?” You gasped as you tried to steady yourself so you didn’t fall over. “I didn’t…”

“Mike saw him leave!” He interrupted as he backhanded you across the face. “Don’t lie to me!”

“OK!” You said as you raised your hand to try and protect your face. “OK, he made me. He threatened my life.”

“What did he want?” He asked as he pushed you up against the light blue wall beside your white soaker tub. 

“He…” You stammered as you scrambled to come up with a believable lie. “He owns the club I go to. I forgot my bag there last night and he brought it to me. He wanted my opinion on the club since I’m photographed there all the time. That’s all.” Your husband searched your eyes for the lie and you carefully reached up to cup his jaw in your hands with a smile. “I made him leave, baby. I promise. He was only here for a minute.” You tried not to cringe when his grip tightened as he nodded his head, and jerked his face away from your hand.

“He shows here again and you better call me. I don’t want that son of a bitch in my house.” You knew there was going to be a bruise on your arm as he let you go, stormed out of your bathroom, and slammed the door behind him to head back to work. You jumped at the sound and tears welled in your eyes as Chewie jumped to his feet in your closet and barked at the closed door.

“No, shhh.” You gasped as you lurched forward and picked him up off the floor. “It’s OK, baby. Mommy’s fine.” You cradled him to your chest and walked quickly into the closet so your husband, who hated your dog, wouldn’t hear him and get more mad. Tears fell softly in his fur as you ducked into the corner behind all your long, fancy dresses. You crouched down on the floor in your strapless bra and panties and cried like you did nearly every night that your husband came home early from work.

“Mommy will be OK.” You whispered as your fur child licked your face where you had been slapped. “Mommy will be just fine.”

——

You headed into the Central Park zoo with your head held as high as you could for the annual Wildlife Conservation Society Gala, despite the fact that you were not only late, but alone as well. You pulled the shawl you had thrown on over your strapless, black dress with a red rose print tighter around you, and forced yourself not to cry in shame. Your head spun with your thoughts about what Negan had said and trying to figure out how your life had gotten to the point that it had, and a single tear fell from your eye.

“Hey. Thought I’d find you here.” You heard Negan say from the shadows. You squeaked in shock as your head whipped over at him. Your shoe caught on the front hem of your dress and your hands flew forward to catch yourself when you stumbled. Negan lurched forward to grab your arm, and you couldn’t stop the cringe or the slight hiss when his fingers pressed into the bruises. He instantly let go of your arm, and your fear filled eyes darted up to meet his, making his heart shatter.

“Please don’t.” You said with a shake of your head. You watched his eyes narrow as you stepped back into the light.

“Oh, no he fucking didn’t.” He growled as he took a step toward you, and very gently reached up to pinch your chin with his thumb and forefinger. He turned your face to look at the faint red palm print your makeup couldn’t cover. “Sweetheart…”

“Please… I have to go inside.”

“No.” He said as he shook his head. “Fuck no. I won’t let you get photographed with this. Let’s go.” You breathed his name and tears filled your eyes as he took your hand and lead you back out of the zoo. “Nope. I don’t fucking tolerate men hitting women.”

“Negan, there’s nothing you can do.” You said as you let him lead you through the shadows back toward the entrance.

“Bullshit.” He replied with a shake of his head. He stopped in his tracks and spun around in front of you, causing you to jump slightly in fear. “You know who I am, right?” You nodded your head slowly as he carefully reached up to cup your jaw in his large hand. “So you know what I’m capable of.” You bobbed your head slowly as he brushed your tears away with his thumb. “You know I can get you out of there…”

“You can’t kill him.” You whispered as he took a step closer to you.

“That’s for me to fucking worry about, sweetheart. I’m gunna take care of you, now. Someone fucking needs to.” You closed your eyes and tilted your head down but he didn’t move his hand off your cheek. He took a step forward so that he was nearly chest to chest with you but didn’t try to lift your head. “Let me take care of you, baby girl.” You watched a tear fall on his shiny black shoes, and you forced yourself to look up into his gorgeous brown eyes.

“You don’t even know me.” You whispered. He huffed a small laugh and shook his head as he gently reached out and put his hand on your hip.

“Then I’ll get to fucking know you.” He searched your green eyes with a small smile as he brushed his thumb across your cheek. “Let me help you, (Y/N).” You hesitated for a only a moment before nodding your head, knowing that this was the only chance you had of getting away from your abusive husband.

“OK.” You barely breathed. His smile grew as he leaned down and lightly kissed your forehead.

“OK. Let’s go get your little fucking fur ball and get you set up at my place for the night. I got a fucking dirty judge or two on my damn payroll that will sign a fucking eviction notice. We’ll get your home back for you by tomorrow night.” You nodded your head, and let him lead you out of the zoo to grab a cab to take you the twelve blocks home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jesus Christ.” Jade said as she walked through the front door of Negan’s three story penthouse on 89th and 3rd. “You would think I was trying to get into the fucking White House.”

“Well you kinda are.” You giggled as you grabbed Chewie before he could dart out the door to attack the pants of the guard that Negan had outside his front door who your dog didn’t like for some reason or another. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Didn’t think it was.” She said as she looked around the black walled living room that complimented the stark white tile floor and furniture perfectly thanks to the two walls of windows that overlooked the city. She pursed her bottom lip and nodded as you closed and locked the door behind her. “Nice place.”

“’s’not home.” You said with a shrug as you put your dog down on the floor.

“I’m mad at you, by the way.” She said sat down on the U-shaped leather couch that took up the bulk of the living room in front of the off center fireplace and the TV. “I’ve been telling you for years to get out of this marriage but would you listen to your bestie? No…”

“Jade.” You sighed as you took a seat a little bit away from her so Chewie would have enough room to jump up between you. “I couldn’t…”

“I know.” She said as she reached across the space and gently grabbed your arm so she could see the finger shaped bruises. She shook her head with a sigh before letting you go, and pulling her hand back. “I get it. You finally got your way out, and I’m proud of you for finally doing it.” She said as she found your green eyes. “Look, he has an APB out on you. Mark told me this morning.”

“Shit.” You sighed as you ran your fingers through your slightly messy bed head since you forgot your brush in your hurry the night before. You shook your head at the news from her husband, a cop that sided with you in this whole situation over his boss and friend. “That’s not good.”

“We’re gunna figure it out.” She said with a reassuring nod as your fur child crawled onto your lap and flopped down on your yoga pant covered thighs with a cute yawn.

“Negan’s got some of his guys at my house installing security cameras and changing all the locks and the alarm codes while Christian’s at work.” You said as you looked up at her. “He’s got someone working on a restraining order, and his lawyer is writing up divorce papers.”

“See, that’s progress.” She said with a smile.

“Yea, until Christian gets his hands on me.” You cocked your eyebrow and glanced over at Jade with an unconvincing smile. “He’s gunna freak…”

“And we’ll be right there to make sure that he doesn’t.” She responded with a nod. “We’ve got your back, sweetheart.” You nodded your head and rested your head on the back of the couch as you ran your fingers through Chewie’s fur. You jumped a bit when the locks on the door turned and looked over as Negan walked through the door while screaming at someone on the phone. He found your eyes and gave you a weak smile.

“Hey, just… fuck! Hold the fuck on, for a sec.” He snapped before pulling the phone away from his ear. “Hey, baby girl. I’m gunna take this upstairs, then we’ll talk, OK?” You nodded your head and smiled as your dog put his front paws on the back of the couch to see. With a nod, Negan returned to his phone call. “Alright, you stupid fucker.” You heard him yell as he headed upstairs to his room. “Now I don’t give a fucking shit what the fuck you think you need to do first…”

“Well he’s a real peach.” Jade giggled as Chewie laid back down with a huff at not getting loved on.

“He wants to take care of me.” You said with a shrug as you rested your arm on the couch to prop your head up on it. “Don’t know why.”

“Because you deserve it.” She laughed as she whacked at your knee, receiving a single, protective bark from Chewie in response. You shook your head and rolled your eyes at her.

“Not one little…”

“You know what.” She interrupted. “I’m gunna have surgery tomorrow.” Your brow furrowed as she nodded her head and curled up on the couch. “Yep. I’m gunna have ‘em cut off my tits and give me a penis so you’ll actually start listening to me.” 

“Oh God.” You laughed as you picked up Chewie to sit crosslegged on the couch as well. “You’re an idiot.”

“Whatever, you love me.”

——

“He’s gunna be so mad.” You mumbled to yourself as you paced the second floor living room and twisted your fingers together, painfully.

“Baby girl.” Negan said from the stairway as he watched you walk back and forth. “Sit down.” You shook your head and kept walking until you heard Christian’s loud work SUV pull up in front of your house. Your head whipped around and the color drained from your face as Negan took a step in front of you and whistled loudly for the couple guys that were waiting for his arrival downstairs.

“Negan…” You whispered.

“Stay here, baby girl.” He said with a nod. You shook your head and grabbed his arm to follow him down the spiral staircase. “Here.” He said as he gently pulled your hands off his arm and moved them to the staircase banister as Christian jogged down the half dozen steps from the street to your front door. When you hit the first floor, you could see the fury on his face a mile away as his eyes focused on Negan when the latter opened the frosted glass covered door.

“Get the fuck out of my house!” Christian roared as he reached for his gun.

“Wouldn’t fucking do that if I were you, chief-y.” He said with a shake of his head. “You’re on candid fucking camera, now.”

“And you’re fucking trespassing…” Your husband retorted as he trained his service weapon on Negan’s forehead.

“No.” Negan drew out with a slow shake of his head. “No, that would be you. You see, I was invited- by the woman who fucking owns this Goddamn house to be here. I was also the one who watched you get fucking served with a fucking restraining order today so you, my friend, are the one who’s fucking trespassing right now.” He kept his eyes locked on Christian as he raised his hand and gestured his men forward. You looked over for a half second as a guy named Tony and an extremely tall, monster of a man that simply went by ‘Tank’, grabbed the two suitcases full of clothes and the three boxes of Christian’s belongings and carried them out the front door.

“Now, I’ve had my fucking lawyer look over your fucking prenup. I gotta say, (Y/N)’s lawyer was a brilliant fucking man for that beauty. I wanna frame that shit and hang it on my Goddamn wall. This is all you’re fucking getting in the divorce; clothes, personal belongings, and the money in your bank account. We closed hers this morning and moved it to a different bank so you can’t fucking touch it. And let me be crystal fucking clear on this next point.” He stepped out of your door a step and pointed at Christian as Tony and Tank stood on either side of the door. 

“You’re fucking done- beating on your fucking wife. You’re fucking done- abusing that beautiful women. You come near her again and cop or not, I’ll fucking end you, you scumbag piece of shit. And you can bet your fucking ass that if you think you’re fucking good, I promise you, I’m fucking better. And I don’t know if you heard or not, but I keep my fucking promises.” He turned on his heel and headed back into your house with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Have a nice night, chief-y.” With a wave over his shoulder, he grabbed your door and shut it sharply behind him before Christian could even get a word in. You trembled almost violently as you watched Tony and Tank move directly in front of the door, blocking your husband from view.

“Hey, baby girl.” Negan said softly as he turned on your new house alarm and locked the three automatic dead bolts, only one of which could be unlocked from the outside with a key. “Let’s go let the fur ball out of your room and watch a fucking movie. I’ll send Tony to grab us some pizza or something.” You nodded slowly as you dragged your eyes away from your husband’s retreating back up to Negan’s scruff covered face. He smiled at you warmly and offered you his hand. “Come on, baby. It’s OK.” He said with a small nod. You returned the gesture and slipped your hand into his as Christian’s car tires squealed away from the curb.

“OK.” You whispered with a small smile. “OK.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No matter what you did, you couldn’t fall asleep that night. You tossed and turned, kicked the blankets off only to yank them right back up, turned on the TV for background noise, and even broke the ‘cardinal rule’ and brought Chewie up on the bed to snuggle. But sleep evaded you. Around three am, you gave up, and headed upstairs to where Negan had been catching up on the work he had missed that day.

“Listen to me.” You heard him bark as he paced the den on the forth floor. “He don’t fucking pay up, the detail is fucking gone. Period. I don’t give a shit who the fuck he is.” Your slow movement caught his attention and he blanched for a second at your choice of nightgown; a black, low back satin tank top gown that stopped mid-thigh. His eyes darted back up to yours and he held up one finger as you stepped into the room with Chewie in your arms. You nodded as you took a seat in the giant, plush, leather chair that sat in the corner. “Because I run a fucking business, that’s why! He has the fucking money, that’s not the fucking problem here. Now, pull the Goddamn detail ’til he fucking pays up… and that’s not my fucking problem… well, thank fuck for that.” With a shake of his head, he hung up the phone and flopped down on the desk chair with a heavy sigh.

“Fucking idiots.” He breathed with a shake of his head. “I don’t fucking work for free.”

“People are idiots.” You agreed with a nod.

“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked as he set his phone on the open books on his desk. You shook your head and made room for Chewie on the chair beside you.

“Couldn’t get comfortable.” He nodded his head as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Can I ask you something?” You nodded your head and tucked your feet up on the chair.

“By all means.” He smirked and sat forward.

“What’s the damn dog’s name?” You startled a bit and said a soft ‘oh’.

“Chewie.” You said as you picked up your dog and stood up. “Technically, it’s Chewbacca, shoe destroyer of the galaxy but that name is a little too long to be shouting through the house. When I first got him, he ate a pair of Manolo's I was planning on donating so the name just fit. Chewie, say hi.” You tilted your head to the side to look at the cute little face of your pup as he let out a single yip. You shifted him in your arms so he can stretch out his paw for a hand shake. “You gotta shake his paw or he keeps waving it at you.” Negan laughed as he reached up to shake the offered paw.

“How long did it take you to teach him that?” He asked as you walked over to the bookshelf to grab your bag of stashed dog treats.

“Couple days. I have a lot of time on my hands. You know, between shopping and going to events every other week.”

“Can I ask you something else? It’s a little personal.” You nodded as you gave your pup a treat and sat back down in the chair. “Where does your money come from? I know old money…” Your laugh interrupted him as you curled up on the chair and ran your fingers through your hair.

“Let me counter with this. What do you think you know about me? Cause I can almost guarantee that you’re wrong.”

“A challenge.” Negan chuckled as he leaned back in his chair again. “Alright. So I’ll skip over the easy stuff- maiden name, age, house location, marriage details, yada, yada, yada. I know you’re on the board of three different charities, and you’re in page six on a semi-regular basis. You come from old money, location is undetermined as of now, and you’re net worth is 1.7 billion.” You arched your eyebrows and nodded slowly as a laugh bubbled in your chest.

“Wow.” You said with a small tilt of your head. “So your guy can use Google. You’re wrong, by the way.”

“Oh, am I?” He chuckled as he gestured as if to give you the floor. “Please, enlighten me.”

“Alright. Well, the first part is all true. I’m on three boards and yes, I do frequent page six more than anyone really should. But the rest is wrong. I don’t come from old money.” You informed him as you got up from the chair with a knowing smile and walked over to the small book shelf you had your dog treats on to grab a small plaque. “And if you had opened your eyes a bit, you would have seen where that ‘old money’ comes from.” You glanced at the blue panel on the front before passing it to him with a smile. “I technically own the New England Patriots.” You watched his eyes go wide and his mouth actually fell open as he read the owners dedication plaque from 1994 when your inherited the team from your late grandfather.

“You…” He tried as you leaned against the desk in front of him. “You…”

“I’m a silent owner, yes.” You said with a nod. “Robert Kraft and my grandfather were old friends. My grandparents raised me after my parents died when I was two. My dad was driving them home drunk from a game and hit another car. I don’t remember it. When my grandpa died when I was six, the team came to me. Uncle Bobby… Robert… was appointed my legal guardian since I didn’t have any other family and he took over as the face of the team since I was just a baby and all. When I came of age, I just gave him the team since I’m not a football junkie like a lot of people. He splits the profits fifty- fifty. Which makes my net worth about 3.4 billion but it’s whatever.” You reached out and pat his shoulder with a cocky giggle. “Good try though.”

“You… you own the fucking Patriots.” He said again as he handed you back the plaque.

“I own the Patriots.” 

“God, I think I fucking love you.” You smiled as you put the plaque back on the shelf. “You don’t even go to the games, do you?”

“I used to.” You told him as you moved your dog out of the way and sat back down on the chair. “Christian and I used to go when we first started got together. We’d fly over for the night, catch the home games, and fly back the next day. But when things turned for the worse a year into our marriage, we stopped going. Was easier than explaining to my uncle why I had a black eye that week or why I was wearing sunglasses at night.”

“Jesus fuck…”

“It’s OK.” You interrupted. “I’m OK, now thanks to you. Now, can I ask you something personal?”

“I mean… it’s only fair but keep in mind I there’s certain questions I just can’t fucking answer…” You nodded and glanced down at your hands in your lap for a second.

“How did you become the boss?” He inhaled a little sharply and you were actually surprised you got an answer.

“I inherited it as well.” He said with a small nod. “But I can’t say more than that without…”

“I get it.” You said over him with a nod. “It’s a little bit bigger of an admittance than saying you own a football team.” A smile of relief stretched across his face as he nodded his head.

“Thanks… for understanding.” You nodded and rested your head on the back of the chair. You searched his eyes for moment and bit your bottom lip.

“Did you know who I was? At the club, I mean.”

“Not at first. But I found out yesterday.”

“Did you invite me up to your office just to sleep with me?” You watched the lie dance across his eyes for a moment before he nodded subtly.

“At first.” He admitted. “You’re fucking gorgeous, I’d be fucking stupid not to want to. But then I found out the truth about what you went through and I don’t take too kindly to fucking men who beat up women. I knew you needed help, so I’m helping.” You nodded your head and looked away again.

“Is that all you want from me?” You whispered nearly too quietly. You almost thought he didn’t hear you.

“No.” He said with an unseen shake of his head. “I want you. All of you. I want to protect you, I want to make you happy and see you smile that fucking stunning smile of yours. I want to spoil you the way you fucking deserve to be, and I want you to be the only woman on my arm. I won’t lie to you; initially, it was going to be about the sex. But then I realized fucking quickly that you need someone in your corner so much fucking more than that. You need a real man to show you that you deserve so much more than the shitty life your cock sucking ex gave you.” You looked up at him with tears in your eyes as he continued with a nod. 

“I don’t wanna force your hand, here. You don’t want me and just want my protection? That’s fine. I’m not offended at all. My services to you are free for as long as you need and you can consider Tank your personal bodyguard until further notice. You want to consider a relationship? That’s fucking dandy in my book, too. But I’m going to insist we wait a bit before we even entertain the idea. Abusive relationships are fucking killer, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and I’m not about to fucking rush you into something new. I’m not fucking tactless. And let the record show, I don’t want your fucking money. I don’t want your status, I don’t want to get even with your husband, fuck, I don’t want any of that. All I want is for you to be happy and I wanna be the one who makes you fucking happy. I will say though, I wouldn’t mind going to a football game because that’s fucking cool as shit.” You huffed a laugh as you reached up to wipe your tears off your cheeks.

“I think I can make that happen.” You said with a nod. “Season just started so I can call Uncle Bobby and have him send the jet down. We’ll consider it payment for your protection.”

“I think that’s a fair trade, baby girl.” He responded through a yawn. You smiled and gestured to the doorway of the den.

“You know I have four unused bedrooms on this floor, right? You’re more than welcome to get some sleep.”

“You going to bed, too?” He asked as he scrubbed his hand down his face. You shook your head as you picked up your sleeping pup and stood up.

“Probably just going to jump in the pool for a while. Maybe go down and watch a movie in the basement.”

“You have a pool?” He asked as he stood up as well.

“Floor right above you.” You said as you pointed at the ceiling. “I’ll take you on a grand tour when you get up for the day. Get some sleep. When you get up, you can either find me on the fifth floor in the pool or in the movie room in the cellar. It’s marked C in the elevator.”

“Damn.” He said with a shake of his head as he stopped outside the beach room. “I’m kinda jealous of this house.” With a laugh, you shook your head and headed down stairs to the master floor.

“Trust me, you haven’t see anything yet.”


	2. Chapter 2

“How the fuck are you so damn cute?” Negan, who had changed out of his usual suit and tie into jeans and a Patriots jersey, asked as you headed across the private tarmac toward Robert’s personal jet. You shrugged and looked down at your off the shoulder Tom Brady t-shirt, ripped jean shorts, and black, ankle high, high heeled boots.

“I’m not, but OK.” You said with a shake of your head. Negan’s jaw tensed for a half second and he let out an annoyed breath through his nose as he took your duffle of clothes from you He reached into your dog carrier and scratched Chewie’s head.

“I’ll get you to see that beauty, baby girl. That’s a promise. You ready to go?” You nodded your head and gestured to the jet with a smile. Negan offered you his arm with a smile and gestured to your now ever present body guard to follow.

“Is he always so quiet?” You asked with a glance over your shoulder at Tank. “I don’t think he’s said three words to me in the past two weeks.”

“When he’s working, yes.” Negan said as he followed you up the stairs. “He’s ex military. Stays quiet to stay fucking vigilant. Ain’t that right, Tank?”

“Yea, boss.” The six foot seven man who was built like a linebacker said with a nod as he took a seat in the row behind you and Negan. You smirked back at him and buckled your seatbelt as Jessica, the flight attendant, closed the jet door.

“We’re at five words, now.” You teased as you took your pup out of the bag and set him on your lap. “Alright, so are you ready for the owner’s experience?”

“You’ll only fucking hear me admit this once but I’m like a fucking kid in a Goddamn candy store. But you fucking tell anyone and you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.” You laughed at his horrible Italian accent and got comfortable in your chair.

“You’re secret’s safe with me but you better make sure Mr. Blabbermouth back there doesn’t talk either.”

“He fucking knows better than to share secrets.” Negan said as the plane taxied down the runway and took off toward Massachusetts. You nodded your head as he glanced over at you and reached for your hand.

“Snitches get stitches.” You said as you laced your fingers with his.

“Exactly.”

——

“Well I’ll be damned.” Your Uncle Bobby said with a smile as you headed into the owners box a couple hours before kick off after dropping your bags and Chewie off at your hotel room.

“Hey, Uncle B.” You said with a smile as he pulled you into a strong hug. Tears welled in your eyes for a moment as the man that was the closest thing to a father to you held you tight and rubbed your back since he hadn’t seen you in nearly five years.

“Damn, I missed you, little girl.” He breathed as he leaned back and held onto your shoulders to get a good look at you. “You look so good, sweetheart. So much better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks, Bobby.” He pat your cheek once before taking a step back to be introduced to your guests. “This is Negan and that back there is my body guard, Tank.”

“You have a body guard?” Bobby asked with his eyebrow raised.

“I’m divorcing Christian.” You said as you glanced over at him. “Need to prepare myself for the worst.”

“Good point.” He said with a nod as he looked back at Negan. “Nice to meet you, son.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, sir.” Negan said as they shook each other’s hands. “You raised a wonderful girl.”

“She’s a pistol.” Bobby chuckled with a nod as he gestured over to the bar. “Give her time, you’ll see it. She was always a damn handful…”

“Thanks, Uncle Bobby.” You laughed as a blush rose in your cheeks. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Says the girl who trashed my Lamborghini into a fire hydrant at three in the morning.”

“That was an accident!” You claimed over Negan’s laugh as you grabbed a glass of wine and a bottle of water as well.

“Yea, an accident that cost me 50 grand to fix.” Bobby laughed as you grabbed a spot at one of the high top tables in the back of the spacious box. “Don’t ever let this woman behind a wheel.” You groaned and covered your face with your hands as the waitress came over with menus.

“Well I will absolutely keep that in mind.” Negan laughed. “What else can you tell me about this troublemaker?”

“Negan!” You whined as you playfully hit his arm.

“Oh son, I could write a book!” Bobby laughed. “Like this one time…”

“This was the worst idea ever.” You groaned as you grabbed your menu to hide behind.

——

“See, this is how you watch a fucking football game.” Negan said quietly so only you would hear his swearing. You smiled and glanced over at him as you set your beer on the bar in front of your seat.

“You having fun?” You asked as you leaned into his side with a smile. He nodded as he continued to brush his thumb across your right knee like he had done the whole game.

“So fucking much. Thank you for this.”

“Of course, sweetheart.” He squeezed your knee and rested his cheek on the top of your head for a second before bolting forward in his chair as the Patriots intercepted the ball. You couldn’t help but giggle to yourself when his foot started to bounce with nervous energy as Jason McCourty ran the ball back to the end zone. You stood up and a proud smile spread across your face as the entire stadium erupted into a roar for the fourth touchdown of the game.

“Good to be home, right?” Bobby asked as he clapped you on the back. You nodded at him and clapped your hands as Negan put his arm over your shoulder. Instinctively, your arm went around his waist and you leaned into his side to watch Stephen Gostkowski make the conversion kick. Your phone started ringing in your back pocket and you glanced at your smart watch to see who it was. Your eyes went wide as Christian’s number stared back at you.

“What?” You asked of no one as you moved out of Negan’s arm to grab your phone from your pocket.

“No!” Negan said a little harshly as he grabbed your wrist. “Let it go to voicemail. He’s violating the fucking restraining order and that gives you more leverage when you go to court for your divorce.” You nodded your head, set your phone on the bar, and sat down in your chair. Negan turned back toward Tank and you over heard him saying to get someone on the phone before turning back to you. “I’ll be right back, baby girl.” You nodded your head and tried to focus on the game as Negan took Tank’s phone and headed back into the box for some privacy. 

“Everything OK?” Bobby asked, pulling your attention away from your phone screen and the voicemail notification that had popped up. You sighed and shook your head.

“Christian’s not gunna make leaving him easy. I kicked him out a couple weeks ago and filed a restraining order for the abuse. I had to change the locks on my house, installed cameras in every room and covering every inch around my house, updated my security system, and I have someone watching my house 24/7. Negan’s… well, Negan’s in a position to help me out and he’s doing everything he can to get the divorce finalized as quickly as possible. But Christian, of course, is fighting it as hard as he possibly can.”

“Jesus, sweetheart.” Bobby said with a shake of his head.

“It’s OK.” You said as you reached over and pat his hand. “I’ve got help. I’ll get out of this.”

“Maybe you should move back to Boston…”

“Ha!” You barked, humorlessly with a smile. “Because Boston totally wants me back. Look, I can promise you without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Negan can help me. I know I’m in a rough spot right now but I’ll be OK. I have people in my corner now that will make sure of it. Am I scared of what Christian is capable of? Absolutely. But everyone keeps telling me that I’m gunna be OK so I have to believe them, right?” He nodded his head in agreement as he reached over and took your hand in both his.

“If you need anything, anything at all, you call me. I still have a lot of connections in Manhattan and I won’t hesitate to fly down there.” You smiled at him and pat his hands.

“You hate flying, Uncle Bobby.” He chuckled and nodded his head.

“Alright, you caught me. I’d drive really, really fast.” You giggled and pulled your hands back to give your attention back to the game.

“I’ll call you, Uncle B. I promise.” He nodded his head and went back to the game as Negan sat back down next to you.

“Don’t answer his damn calls, OK baby? For me?” He said with a glance over at you as he reached out for your hand and laced his fingers with yours. You nodded your head and squeezed his hand.

“I won’t.” He nodded and gently kissed your forehead before turning back to watch the rest of the game.

“I’ll put an end to all this shit soon. I promise you.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What a day.” Negan said as the two of you headed into your hotel suite later that night. “What a fucking day.”

“Welcome to my life.” You said with a small giggle as you bent down to pick up Chewie and the pee pad you had in the kitchenette. “I used to come up at least once a month. Just wait until Super Bowl.”

“Fuck… the Super Bowl.” Negan groaned as he leaned his whole body and stomped his foot. “Baby girl, what the fuck am I supposed to do with you?”

“Walk the dog and come to bed with me?” You turned to look at him with pleading eyes as he searched your eyes. “Please?” You asked before he could say anything. “I don’t… I can’t sleep alone anymore.”

“Fuck, baby girl.” He groaned as he scrubbed his hand over his mouth and gestured to you. “Not the eyes.” You smiled as he nodded his head and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But I have some shit to take care of first.” You nodded your head as you grabbed your leash from the counter and clipped it on to Chewie’s collar. One long stroll around the large hotel, and one tuckered out pup later, the pair of you headed up to your suite to call it a night.

While Negan made his phone calls, you jumped in the shower. You were grateful that, with a hair dryer, your hair dried in a matter of minutes. You threw on a pair of cotton sleep shorts and the darkest, most non-transparent tank top you owned. Once you took off your make up, tossed your earrings and bracelets in your make up bag and put your phone and smart watch on their chargers, you turned off all the lights, and headed out of the room for bed.

“And if he still doesn’t have my fucking money, then fucking end him.” You gasped and tripped on nothing as you looked up at Negan’s darkened eyes. He completely ignored whoever he was on the phone with and forced his face to soften no matter how frustrated he was with post game gambling gains and losses. “Sweetheart, you’re OK. You’re safe, alright?” You nodded your head subtly as he hung up the phone and set it on the dresser. “I would never hurt you.”

“OK.” You whispered as he walked toward you. With quick yet slow movements, he reached out to cup your jaw in his hand.

“Baby girl, it’s just business…”

“I know.” You breathed as you leaned subtly into his palm.

“You gotta understand something. Being with me, you’re gunna overhear some shit. Lots of shit that ain’t gunna be fucking pretty. I’m literally as fucking polar opposite of your ex-husband as I can possibly fucking get. But I swear to you, on my life, that you will never have to worry about a single fucking thing with me. No matter what happens, you will never have to be fucking scared again, whether we’re together or not. Now, I’m not done working yet so I’ll take that shit out…”

“No.” You gasped as you reached out and grabbed his white undershirt in your fingers. “Don’t leave.” He searched your eyes for a moment before slowly nodding with a sigh.

“Alright, but just… don’t fucking listen to me, OK? You shouldn’t be fucking hearing any of this shit, ever.” He said with a small smile. You returned the smile and nodded as you jokingly covered your ears with your hands. “Smart ass.” He chuckled as he moved his hand to your shoulder blades and directed you over to the bed. You shoved the decorative pillows to the floor and pulled back the blankets as Negan grabbed his phone and laptop, and set them on the bed. You habitually snuggled in to the side of the bed farthest from the door and pulled the blankets up to your chin.

“Night, sweetheart.” Negan said softly as he took off his shoes and jeans, shut off the room lights, and got into bed in front of you.

“Night baby.” You responded as you closed your eyes. He smiled subtly as he leaned back against the headboard with a small shake of his head.

‘You’re trouble, baby girl.’ He thought as he shook his head and called his lead enforcer back. ‘You’re gunna be so much fucking trouble.’

“Yea.” He said as he laid his hand down softly on your head and began to run his fingers through your hair. “Alright, what’s next on the fucking list?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘She’s Negan’s girl.’ It became your monicker quickly after that weekend. You went from being known as just another socialite in the throngs of people to being the girl of the most notorious, untouchable man in the five boroughs. It was a simple monicker that boosted the self-esteem Christian had spent the past five years of your life tearing down.

You walked into the club with a whole new pep in your step in a new skin tight, low cut, white, collared, halter dress and the most cherry red heels and lips as you could. You nodded at ‘Jerry two-toes’ (a nickname you never, ever wanted to know the origin of) and Mikey, who were standing guard at the bottom of the stairs and headed up to the cat walk with Jade right behind you. The sound of your heels clicking on the metal platform was lost in the loud bass of the music down below and you smiled as you walked past Big Sam.

“Well holy fucking fuck.” Negan said as he looked over from the man he was talking to about who knows what. “Look at you.”

“You like?” You asked as you turned in a tight circle to show off your most recent purchase.

“Fucking love it, baby girl. Jade.” Your friend, who was conflicted about your blossoming relationship with the gangster, waved from her spot by the office door. “You just getting here?” You nodded as you walked over to lean on his desk.

“Spa day ran a little later than I expected. How’s work?” He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his stomach with a shake of his head. 

“Fucking obnoxious.” He groaned as he pointed to the man sitting across the desk from him. “Dealing with idiots like this fuck who…” You quickly leaned forward and put your hand over his mouth with a small shake of your head.

“Mixed company.” You whispered so that only he would hear as you gestured to Jade with your eyes only. “Not now.” He nodded his head and reached up to lace his fingers with yours.

“Good girl.” He said as he kissed your fingertips. “You go have fun. I’ll be up here for a while.”

“Alright, baby.” You said as you leaned forward to leave a faint, red kiss on his cheek. “Have fun with the idiots.” He chuckled and gave you a light swat on the ass. You flipped your hair over your shoulder and looked back at him with a wink on your way out the door.

“I don’t like it.” Jade said with a shake of her head. You looked over at her as the pair of you walked side by side to the stairs.

“Weren’t you the one that told me that I was lucky that Negan liked me? Weren’t you the one that said I should sleep with him?” She came to a stop at the top of the stairs and sighed as she put her fingertips on her forehead with a shake of her head.

“I did.” She replied as she met your green eyes. “It’s just… look, I love you. I want you to be happy but I’m scared of what dating him could lead to for you. Especially with everything going on with Christian.” You glanced around to make sure no one was close to you, and pulled her a step closer.

“Nothing can ever happen to me.” You said directly in her ear so that no one could over hear you. “Trust me, Negan promised and I looked into it. I can’t be arrested because I don’t know anything. Christian can come at me all he wants but there’s not a damn thing he could make stick. I don’t call shots. Women bosses in the Mafia were phased out fifteen years ago to prevent wives from suffering the fate men can. I’m literally just arm candy along with the rest of the wives. I know it seems unbelievable but I’m safe. I’m untouchable.” You pulled away to look at her with a small nod. 

“After everything I went through with Christian, Negan swore he would guarantee that no matter what, I’d be safe. He swore that no matter what, I would never know anything that could land me in jail or in a grave. Trust me, you aren’t the only one scared here with me dating a boss… but I trust him. I trust that he will protect me. I have to.”

“OK.” She agreed with a nod. “Alright, I trust you so if you trust him, so do I. But I know nothing. And I want him to keep Mark out of it as well.”

“You have my word.” You agreed as you laced your arm with hers and headed down the stairs. “Come on, let’s dance.”

——

You knew it was only a matter of time before Christian retaliated but you were absolutely not expecting the retaliation he delivered. You were working out in the gym when your door buzzer buzzed loudly through the entire house. You groaned at having to stop just shy of your two mile run and headed over to let whoever was there you’d be down in a moment. The welcoming smile you stepped out of the elevator with dropped instantly at the sight of two blue police officers uniforms standing on the other side of your red, frosted glass door.

“Boys.” You said a breathily over Chewie’s barking with a nod of your head as you looked back and forth between Jade’s husband, Mark and his captain, Ben.

“(Y/N). Sorry to bother you but… well, we have a warrant.” You cocked your eyebrow at them and stuck your hand out for the warrant as you took a step back into your house.

“What are you looking for? I can save your boys the trouble of tearing apart my house.” Your eyes danced across the page as Mark cleared his throat.

“Two watches. Chief claims you stole them from him. And roughly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” You swore under your breath and rolled your eyes as you folded the paper back up.

“Didn’t steal them.” You said as you closed your front door, picked up your dog, and gestured them toward the elevator. “I purchased them with my money and kept them…”

“OK, (Y/N). Stop talking.” Ben interrupted as you hit the third floor button and closed the gate to the elevator. “Not another word until you’re with your lawyer.” You nodded your head in understanding as the elevator came to a stop on the master suite floor.

“Can I at least jump in the shower first before you haul my ass in? I’ll make it quick.” You grabbed the two watches in question from their boxes in the top drawer of the dresser in Christian’s old closet and handed them to Ben, who nodded slowly.

“You gotta be quick, OK? And I’m gonna stand out here in the sitting room.” You nodded and looked at Mark with the hint of tears in your eyes as you passed him your fur child.

“Can you go down and feed Chewie? His food is in the pantry and the scoop is in the bag. One even scoop.” Your friend nodded and turned back toward the elevator. You growled to yourself and headed into the bathroom with a shake of your head. “Stupid son of a bitch is never gunna give up.”

——

You could feel your husband watching you from the other side of the two way mirror as you waited patiently and silently for your lawyer to get there with the documents you had told him to get from your house. Your still damp hair was making you shiver in the freezing cold room and you cursed yourself for not thinking to grab a sweater to throw on over your plain black t-shirt and jeans. You cursed Christian as well for being so damn ridiculous and petty since the division of property was clearly spelled out in the prenup you were so grateful you had made him sign before you got married.

“So how have you been, (Y/N)?” Ben asked from across the table just to fill the silence with something. You huffed a laugh and nodded your head minutely.

“I’m doing really well, Benny. Probably ten times better than the last time you saw me. How’s Susan doing?”

“She’s doing real well, thanks for asking.” He replied before someone rapped impatiently on the glass behind him.

“Uh oh! Better not talk to the enemy.” You joked with zero humor in your tone as you looked up at the mirror again. You huffed and shook your head as your lawyer, Nathan, finally came into the room with a giant pile of documents in his hands. 

“OK.” Nathan said as he dropped the stack of papers on the table and pulled out the metal chair beside you. “So, let’s hear the charges against my client.” You crossed your legs and leaned back in your chair.

“Grand theft…” Ben tried before you simply interrupted him.

“You gunna come in here and get schooled or you wanna hide behind the glass?” You called out. Nathan hissed your name seconds before the door to the interrogation room flung open.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Christian demanded as Ben lurched to his feet. “You fucking thief!” You smiled contently as you reached out and grabbed the stack of papers from in front of Nathan.

“Thief, am I?” You asked as you flipped through them to find the prenup first. “We’ll start with this.” You held up the thick stack of papers and rested your elbow on the table for a moment. When his eyes narrowed, you pursed your bottom lip and nodded as you flipped through to find the page you needed. “Pre-nuptial agreement signed by both of us, right? The one you signed agreeing that we… oh, here we go.” You flipped the page over and slammed the packet down on the table where Christian and Ben could see it.

“We each had a fucking personal bank account where our incomes were coming in with a joint account in the middle we would both move money in to for bills. Your signature is right fucking here, Christian, agreeing that if we got a divorce, we’d split the joint account fifty-fifty. Right?” You cocked your eyebrow at him as you pushed the paper closer before flipping through the rest of the stack to look for the statement for the joint account.

“Well, that’s what I did.” You said as you pulled out the last two bank statements and the amount you pulled out the day you closed your personal account to switch banks. “I split it directly down the middle to the fucking penny. Two hundred, fifty-one thousand, four hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-three cents. Exactly half of what was in the account despite the fact that I was the only one putting money in for bills in the last four months. So technically, I should have taken more but I didn’t because I’m not a shitty person.” Christian stepped forward and snagged the bank statements off the table as you continued on your rant.

“Now the watches? Those were paid for with my money, out of my fucking account. Not yours. They were anniversary gifts. Was I petty by keeping them? Sure, but I did anyways because fuck you.”

“Fuck me?” Christian snapped back as his eyes darted up with yours.

“Yea, fuck you!” You snapped back as you leapt up from the chair. “Fuck you for beating me and thinking it was acceptable! Fuck you for making me think I was less than what I was worth! Fuck you for everything you put me through! You want the fucking watches so bad you need to have me fucking arrested for it, then fucking take them! I don’t give a shit. But next time you pull a fucking stunt like this, keep in mind. I have been one fucking step ahead of you for seven years. I have kept receipts for every single fucking thing I have bought you since we started dating. Every dinner, every gift, every article of clothing, magazine subscription, and bottle of wine. Everything is documented. Every receipt is filed in the basement like it always has been. Just like the receipts for the two watches I supposedly stole from you.” You snagged the receipts out of the pile and slammed them down on the table and grabbed the prenup again.

“Sign the fucking divorce papers, asshole, because I will fucking take you to court and I will make it very public and messy as fuck. You signed off on this divorce before you even said I do. Sign- the fucking- papers! Can I go now?” You looked over at Ben with your eyebrow raised as you reached out as far as you could and snatched the bank statements from Christian.

“Yea.” He said with a nod as he fought hard to keep the smile off his face. “You can go.”

“The charges against my client are obviously going to be dropped, correct?” Nathan asked as you collected all the papers he had brought you.

“Absolutely.” Ben said with a nod.

“Sign the Goddamn papers.” You said again as you walked around the table and headed out the door. You paused in the archway and looked back over your shoulder at your hopefully soon to be ex-husband. “And if you fucking dare to have me arrested again on some trumped up, bullshit charges, I will sue you and the NYPD for harassment. Try me.”

“You fucking bitch.” Christian shouted as he lunged for you. Ben caught him around the middle and held him back as you simply flicked him off over your shoulder.

“Bye Ben! Send Susan my love!”

“Can you not taunt the chief of police?” Nathan asked as he walked with you through the police station. “At least, not in front of me.”

“He deserves it.” You said with a shake of your head as you stepped outside. Your smile grew as Negan, looking as dapper as ever, looked up from his phone and pushed off his town car.

“Hey trouble.” He chuckled. “Didn’t think I’d be the one picking your ass up from the police station.”

“Stop.” You giggled as he took your paperwork from you. “Misunderstanding. This is my lawyer, Nathan Riggs. Nathan, this is Negan.” The two men shook hands before Nathan gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Sorry to cut this short, but I got court in twenty minutes. Judge Harris will kick my ass if I’m late again.”

“Oh! Tell Ian I say hi.” He nodded and waved bye before grabbing a cab.

“Let’s get you home, my little trouble maker.” You smiled as Negan opened the back door and gestured you in.

“I was completely innocent, here.” You said as you got in and scooted across the backseat to give him room. “And damn, you should have seen that jerk’s face. So priceless.”

“So, what the fuck did you get arrested for, anyways?” You sighed and leaned into his side as his driver pulled away from the curb and headed up town to the Upper East Side.

“Grand theft over three hundred thousand.” You breathed as he put his arm around your shoulders.

“Well fuck me running. Way to go, baby.” You looked up at him with a fake scowl and rolled your eyes.

“Shut up.” He chuckled lowly and kissed the top of your head.

“Anything you say, fellow felon.” You groaned and buried your face in his black suit jacket.

“Oh, my God.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So let me ask you something.” You said to Negan the next morning as he made you breakfast. You glanced up at him over the newspaper you were reading and he hummed and nodded. “Are we officially dating?” His brow furrowed as he looked up to watch you fold the news paper in half. “Because we made page six as a couple.”

“What?” He laughed as he set down the oven mitt and tray of food and reached out for the newspaper. “UES bombshell, pictured above with new beau, arrested for grand theft yesterday… Fuck, I don’t even get named?”

“Do you really want to be named?” You teased as you took back the newspaper and his glasses so he could cut the three meat and three cheese quiche he made.

“Not if your bad name is going to ruin my fucking spotless reputation.” You rolled your eyes as you folded the page in half to finish reading after breakfast.

“Haha, dick. You’re so funny.” He smiled as he served up two large helpings of quiche and passed you the two plates so he could cut up and cool down a small bit to mix in with Chewie’s dog food.

“Well if it’s written in fucking page six it must be true.” He responded as he glanced down at the four legged food whore that had been sitting patiently at his heels, staring up at him. When you didn’t say anything, he looked back up at you with a shrug. “Do you want to be official, baby girl? That what you’re fuckin’ gettin’ at.” You smiled and playfully bit your bottom lip.

“I mean, you’d be dating a bad girl.” He laughed loudly on his way over to the pantry to grab Chewie’s food container and bowl.

“Oh, baby girl. You’re just too fucking cute sometimes.” You smiled proudly and sat up a little straighter in your chair as Chewie started to yip excitedly for his meal while jumping against his legs.

“You love it.”

“Chewbacca, chill.” Negan laughed as he poured half a scoop of food in the bowl and mixed in the small bit of food before setting it on the floor. He shook his head and came around to enjoy his breakfast with a sigh. “You want to be official, baby girl?”

“More than anything.” He nodded his head as he turned your chair toward him. Very gently, he slid his large hands between your knees to push them apart so he could stand between your legs.

“Then we’ll be official. Since we gotta go and fucking say it out loud like we’re a couple’a fucking horny teenagers.” You scowled and playfully flicked his chest as he slid his hands up your thighs to your hips. “We gotta seal it with an official first kiss, too.”

“You’re an ass.” You mumbled as you reached up to cup his jaw in your hands.

“Hey, I’m just being fucking thorough, here.” You rolled your eyes and shook your head subtly as you pulled his face closer to capture his lips with yours. You instantly melted into the plush softness of his lips and moved your hands so you could wrap your arms around his neck. As he deepened the kiss, he pulled your hips forward until your core was flush with his half hard cock. You moaned softly and tangled your fingers in his soft grey dappled brown hair. With a gentle pull, his length twitched against you, and caused both of you to groan.

“Oh! Sorry! So sorry!” Mary exclaimed, forcing you and Negan to pull away from each other.

“Sorry, Mare.” You said to the woman with an embarrassed smile. “We’re just starting breakfast. Think you could start upstairs with the living room today?” She nodded her head as she looked anywhere else but at you.

“Of course, ma’am.” You said thanks and nodded at her retreating back as Negan turned your chair back toward the bar.

“Way to go, bad girl.” He growled as he tried to subtly adjust himself before sitting down.

“Your fault.” You said as you ran your fingers through your hair and started in on your slightly room temperature meal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, sorry to bother you so late.” Nathan said. You nodded and paused the movie you were watching alone in the basement at a little after twelve-thirty with a smile.

“I wasn’t asleep.” You told him as you sat up straight on the plush couch you had been laying across. “What’s going on?”

“He signed the papers.” You let out a squeal of joy and kicked your feet on the leather.

“Thank fucking God, it’s over.”

“I’ve actually got them with me and I’m pulling up Park now. Figured I’d drop them off in your mailbox…”

“No, I’ll come up.” You said as you pushed yourself up off the couch and headed toward the stairs. “Take a look at them just to make sure he didn’t accidentally on purpose forget a page.”

“Alright. I’ll just pull up to the curb. See you in a second.” You nodded your head and headed toward the front door with a small jump in your step. 

“Chewie, stay.” You said as you unlocked the three locks, turned off the alarm, and dipped outside. You habitually locked the middle of the three locks with your phone before heading up the stairs to Nathan’s waiting car.

“What made you bring them by so late?” You asked as your lawyer got out of his taxi and handed you the file. 

“I’ve got a murder case I’ve been working on for the past two weeks. They got faxed to me this afternoon but I was just too busy to stop for a second to call you.” You nodded your head as you checked every single page to make sure every page was signed, and once you were satisfied, you flipped the packet closed and stuck it back in the manilla envelope. 

“Thank you.” You breathed. “Did you file them already?”

“My assistant did this afternoon for me. I just figured you’d want a copy for your meticulous records.” You smiled and held up the envelop as you turned back to the door.

“Hey, you guys always thought I was crazy for keeping receipts and shit. Not so crazy now, am I?” He chuckled weakly and shook his head as he got back in his cab.

“See you ‘round, (Y/N).” He called out through the open cab window. “And I’m really sorry for this.” Your brow furrowed and you turned around just in time to watch Christian swing his work baton into the side of your left kneecap. Your pain-filled scream was almost instantly muted when the thick back end of it was thrust into the side of your face. You knew your jaw was broken the second you tried to scream for help and you barely had enough time to cover your head as you hit the stone ground to partially protect your face from the kick he delivered next.

Pain unlike anything you had ever felt before shot through your body in blinding white waves as your ex-husband delivered blow after blow with his fists, feet, and baton. You repeatedly gargled ‘please’ through the blood pooling in your mouth as Chewie barked frantically behind your front door. You had a brief thought that you should have forced Negan to stay the night instead of letting him head up to his house, but the thought was instantly and literally kicked from your head.

“Fucking bitch.” He growled as he sent one more strong kick to your stomach. “I fucking warned you not to fuck with me.” He grabbed you by the arm, not caring how much he twisted it, and dragged you over to the short wall beside your stairs behind a row of privacy bushes. You whined pathetically and your head spun violently, causing you to throw up blood on the pavement in front of you. You heard the front hose turn on and the sound of water spraying across the stone and you realized that Christian was actually leaving you to die.

“Divorce that, bitch.” He snapped as he tossed the hose away and ran from your front door. Tears spilled slowly from your swollen shut eyes and you honestly believed every bone in your body was broken. You couldn’t even try to get up off the pavement. You tried to call for help but all that came out was a garbled, wet gasp that caused you to get sick once more.

‘I’m sorry, Negan.’ You thought as you gave up any and all will to fight for your life. You allowed yourself to fall into the darkness that was quickly enveloping your mind with a choked, watery gasp. ‘I love you.’

——

Negan woke up from a dead sleep at nearly three in the morning, filled with an indescribable dread. He glanced over at the clock and his brow furrowed when he saw his cell phone blinking with a voicemail from you. He grabbed his phone and ripped it off the charger at the same time he put his password in and pulled up the voicemail.

“…e’… n…” You horsed in his ear and the sound of your wet voice made his blood run cold. “…..e’…” The voicemail ended and he lurched to his feet as he dialed your number back.

“Come on, baby. Pick up the fucking phone.” He growled to himself as he threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He swore loudly when the call hit voicemail and he ran down the stairs to his living room.

“Let’s fucking go.” He growled at his nighttime body guard, Mikey, as he punched the button to his elevator so hard, the glass panel behind it cracked.

“Boss?” Mikey asked as Negan dialed your number again and punched the elevator doors.

“Shut the fuck up!” He roared as he stepped into the elevator before the door had completely opened. He tapped his foot impatiently as he dialed your number over and over again, praying that he was just going to wake you up and not the alternative. He choose to drive and broke every speeding law known to man as he headed down the thirteen blocks between your two houses. He nearly rear ended the SUV of his security detail that was parked on the side of your house and jumped out of the car as Mikey looked on as confused as ever.

“You better hope to fuck I’m wrong!” He yelled as he jogged around the corner and headed down the stairs. Chewie continued to bark madly behind the door as he pulled his phone out of his pants pockets and unlocked the only lock you had locked before bed.

“Chewie! Get back here!” He yelled as the little Pomeranian squeezed his fluffy body in the crack of the doorway and took off across the front patio. In that moment, Negan’s worst fears became a reality he would never be able to unsee. “(Y/N)!”

——

You had no idea how long you had been out but you knew as you opened your eyes, your only option for survival was to fight. Despite the excruciating pain you were in, you began to thrash violently, praying that you could stop Christian from killing you.

“No! Hey, you’re OK.” Negan panicked as he lurched to his feet on your right side and tried to grab somewhere on your body that wasn’t bruised or bandaged. “You’re OK, I’m here. It’s Negan. I’m right here, baby girl.” Your frantic green eyes searched his blurry face as he put one hand on your casted left wrist and the other fingertips on your right shoulder. “It’s over. It’s fucking over, you’re safe now.” Tears welled in your eyes as they darted around the room in terror. “Baby girl, you can’t cry. Your jaw is wired shut so you won’t be able to breathe…”

“Chewie?” You muttered as best as you could. 

“I got him. He’s right here.” Your eyes followed his movements as he reached down and grabbed your dog carrier. You pat the bed beside you with your brace covered right hand and shook your head when he tried to put the carrier down.

“No.” You said through the metal in your mouth as you pat the bed and tried to use your eyes to get him to take the whining dog out of the bag.

“OK.” He said after a moment as he realized what you wanted. “OK. I got you.” You nodded your head and watched like a hawk as he lifted your fur child out of the bag and stuck him right next to your right hip. “Just for a bit.” You nodded slowly as Chewie instantly crawled on his belly carefully up the bed so that his nose was nearly in your arm pit. You scooted your arm to push him to your side, causing you to wince in pain.

“Easy, sweetheart.” Negan said as he sat back down and gently took ahold of the fingers you were wagging at him. Tears welled in his eyes as he leaned forward and kissed your fingertips as if he was going to break you even more when he did. “It’s OK. It’s all going to be OK.” You squeezed his hand as hard as you physically could as tears spilled softly from your swollen eyes onto your bruised and heavily battered cheeks.

“Christian.” You tried to tell him. He nodded and kissed your fingers again.

“I saw the fucking security video.” He growled with malice in his tone. “He’ll fucking get his. Don’t worry.” You nodded your head softly and closed your eyes so that sleep could take you away from the pain once more.


	3. Chapter 3

‘I wanna go home.’ You turned the dry erase board you had been given to communicate toward the door before Negan had even stepped into the room and you had your good hand over the bottom half of the board with your counter to what he was going to say. He looked away from getting your overnight update from Tank, who was now on 24/7 guard duty when Negan wasn’t with you and paused in the room as Chewie wiggled to get to his mommy.

“Baby…”

‘Home, Negan!’ He chuckled as he shut the hospital room door closed behind him.

“You’re too smart for your own good.” You nodded your head slowly so you wouldn’t make yourself sick from your concussion. You turned the board back around and used your wrist brace to wipe your message clean.

‘Please? I’ll hire nurses and stay in bed.’ He looked over your shoulder as you wrote while Chewie found his spot between your casted right ankle and braced left knee and laid down contently.

“Yea because you can get out of bed without someone’s help.” You paused mid-erase and glared up at him. “OK, OK. I fucking take it back.” He chuckled as he sat down on the chair beside you he had basically lived in for the past week since he found you.

“Please.” You grit out as you tried to make your already pathetic looking face even more pathetic. “Please.”

“Stop that.” He said with a small chuckle. “(Y/N), you had like twenty different surgeries in the last fucking week…”

‘So?’

“… you only have one working limb…” You scowled slightly and tapped the marker against the board as Negan continued right over your racket. “… and if I take you home, you’re either gunna be more fucking bored there than you are here and you’re gunna be mad at me for being the person that has to fucking micromanage your ass.” You flipped the board around and wrote fast as Negan sat back and gave you time to respond.

‘I can’t sleep here. I need you. Please, baby. Please bring me home.’ You spun the board toward him and tears welled in your eyes. He took one look at you and you could see your success in his eyes. 

“Damn it, baby girl.” You smiled, awkwardly and spun the board to write out your next idea.

‘Move in with me. Permanently.’ He smirked as he stood and read over your shoulder.

“Pretty fucking sure that agreeing to take care of you for the next however many fucking months is going to guaren-fucking-tee that, baby girl.”

‘All part of my master plan.’ You glanced up at him as he chuckled.

“Yea, I don’t fucking doubt that. Alright, I’ll go get the damn paperwork. Chewie, stay with mommy.” Your dog perked up and looked over at the sound of his name as Negan pulled open the room door. “We’re fucking taking her home. You’re moving in, too. And get on the phone with Gretchen. We’re gunna fucking need nurses.”

——

“Alright baby girl.” Negan said gently as he walked in to your bedroom with a very curly haired woman that was right around your age later that afternoon. “This is my kid sister, Gretchen. She’s gunna help me help you out. She’s an RN at the hospital and she’s been working as an RN for the past 8 years. I trust her, OK?” You nodded your head and looked at the woman who smiled broadly.

“It’s so nice ta finally meet ya, (Y/N).” She said in a slightly squeaky, high pitched voice that absolutely didn’t match her. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

‘Nice 2 meet u 2.’ She smiled and took a step toward the bed but Chewie was having none of it. He raced out from between your legs on your king-sized bed and started yipping wildly, causing Gretchen to take a step back.

“This is Chewie.” Negan chuckled as he walked in front of his sister and picked up your dog. “He’s usually all bark but after what his mommy went through, I’d be fucking careful. (Y/N) talks to him like he’s a person. Treat him with the same damn respect, Gretchie.” She nodded her head and slowly offered the back of her hand for Chewie to smell.

“Absolutely.” She said with a nod as she looked up at you. “He’s a cutie.” You nodded and mumbled ‘thanks’ as Negan put Chewie back down on the bed.

“I’m gunna show her the kitchen and the second floor, baby. Jade’s gunna swing by after she gets off work. And other than the kitchen, living room, and this floor, the rest of the house is off limits, right?” He confirmed with you and informed his sister at the same time. You nodded your head and snapped your fingers so he would wait a second. He walked over to you to see what you needed as you scribbled quickly.

‘Smoothie & meds, plz. Water?’

“You got it, baby. Can you wait twenty minutes for it?” You nodded as he grabbed the empty water jug from the hospital and the remote for your TV and put the latter on your lap. “Alright, give me a bit, baby girl.”

“Nice to meet you.” Gretchen said with a small wave as Negan kissed your forehead. You nodded your head at her and watched the pair of them head over to the elevator to go down stairs. As the gate closed behind them, you leaned back against the dozen pillows behind your back with a groaned sigh. You couldn’t stop the tears that welled in your eyes and you really did try not to cry but in the safety of your home where no nurses were running in and out of your room every five minutes, you couldn’t stop yourself.

Your whole body ached from the grand total of 15 broken and shattered bones, three hundred stitches that littered your body, and the stretched out, severely swollen, and heavily bruised skin that covered almost literally every inch of your body. As of that moment, your left hip and knee, and your left shoulder, arm, and hand had been nearly completely replaced with titanium pins, screws, rods, and sockets that were sure to leave permanent physical scars to go with the mental ones. 

Your right side, which had hit the pavement, was not as badly damaged as the left, but you still had a broken ankle and two cracked ribs on that side… but then again, that was nothing compared to the five broken ribs on the left side, nor the puncture you had in your left lung that, had Negan not found you when he did, you would have died from. But you got fortunate again because the only other internal bleeding you had organ wise was from a minuscule tear in your spleen. 

You tried to wrap your head around why this happened and why your lawyer, who had ben your lawyer before you even got married, would set you up for such a horrible fate. Your mind ran wild as you looked back at your entire marriage to see if there was any sort of indication that Christian was this dangerous but you came up empty. You couldn’t comprehend how someone could be so malicious because of a divorce. You also couldn’t figure out how this same person was the chief of the New York police department. 

You didn’t realize that as your mind ran wild, you had began to hyperventilate until you had to figure out how to sit up a bit more to breathe without ripping stitches or disturbing your hip to much or making your ribs hurt even more. Chewie started to panic and jumped off the bed while making the most terrifying, screaming bark sound you had ever heard. You heard Negan call out your name from the floor below as you dropped your chin to your chest in hope that gravity would get the excess saliva and mucus out of your nose and mouth so that you could breathe again.

“Head up! Head up!” He yelled as he came running into the room and scrambled across the bed. “OK, it’s OK. We can do this.” He said with a nod as he gently lifted your chin to open your windpipe.

“Here.” Gretchen said softly as she grabbed a nose aspirator from the bag of stuff the hospital sent home with you and a small basin. “This is gunna feel really weird, sweetie but it’ll help.” You nodded frantically as you tried to suck in rattled breaths through your grit teeth which caused your chest to scream in pain and protest.

“Calm down, baby.” Negan said as he gently held your head so you couldn’t pull away. “You gotta fucking stay calm.”

“Don’t swear at her, Negan.” Gretchen snapped as she cleared your nose as best as she could. “She’s scared.”

“Gretchen, I swear to fuck…” You interrupted the siblings with a desperate whine as breathing finally started to get easier for you. “Alright, no more fighting.” He said with a nod as he brushed his thumb across your chin and ran his fingers through your hair.

“That better?” Gretchen asked as she sat back to look at you. “Just blink once for yes, two for no.” You closed your eyes for a long blink and opened them up wide so she would know that was your response. She smiled as she grabbed a few tissues and started to wipe off your face. “See, it’s weird but it’s so much better, isn’t it?” You blinked again as Negan moved his hand from under your chin. “Good. How’s about I go get your water for you? Then we try to get you to the bathroom before a nap, OK?”

“Her lunch smoothie is still in the fridge. And her pain meds.” Negan said as he kneeled beside you to adjust the pillows and lay you down. “There’s a big bag of shit on the counter…”

“I’ve got a weekly med container in my bag.” Gretchen said with a smile. “I’ll come in while you have lunch and put them all out so you can help me keep track of times as well, OK?” You blinked again as Negan slowly lowered you onto the pillows. With one more smile, she glanced at Negan and her eyes narrowed. “You be nice.”

“Get the fuck out of here.” He laughed as he put your white board back on your lap. You grabbed the marker and pushed off the top to write your message down.

‘I like her.’ You wrote as you looked up through your lashes at him.

“Of fucking course you do.” He chuckled as he turned on the TV and leaned back against the headboard beside you. “She’s a good girl; she’s the baby of us all. Three boys and Gretchie. I’m the oldest, then my brother Joey who you haven’t met yet. Then comes Jerry two toes. We gave him that nickname when he was born. His big toe and the pointer were fucking like fused together when he was born. It’s really, really fucking gross.” You let out a disgusted sound and looked over at him as he settled on HGTV for you and set the remote down between you. “Yea. Trust me. You didn’t have to grow up with that shit.”

‘Yuck’ He nodded in agreement as he sat back to watch TV with you for a bit until he had to help get you to the bathroom.

“It really was.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had no idea how it was possible, but Negan had more patience than any person you had ever met before in your life. He rarely left your side in that first week you were home, and if he did, it was only during your bed bath time, where he simply headed up to the den to take care of the little work that his brother Joey, who you learned was the Mafia’s underboss, needed Negan’s approval on before following through with, so you had some privacy. He was attentive to every single need you had, usually before you even realized you needed them yourself. He made sure that Gretchen and two of her fellow hospital employees, Sam and Daisy, were on top of their game with changing bandages, and repositioning your legs on the pillows and your left arm on the pillow sling every four to six hours like they were supposed to. He had your recovery working like a well oiled machine. Which you grateful for, honestly. 

You found yourself playing Monopoly with the TV on in the background. You had just put a hotel not only on Boardwalk but beside your house on Park Place and you were starting to think that Negan was letting you win.

‘You’re cheating, aren’t you?’ You wrote as Negan took some of your money for the bank to pay for the hotel.

“Not cheating.” He chuckled. You made as close to a hum noise as you could and tapped the marker against the board to repeat your point. He swiped the dice off the board and jostled them in his left palm as he offered you a drink of water seconds before you were about to ask for it. 

“This is NBC News at six with James Riley and Maxine Smith. Our top story tonight. The body of police chief Christian Wilson was recovered from the Hudson River early this morning only hours after the security video of him assaulting his ex-wife surfaced on the internet. Police say…” You didn’t hear the rest of the story as your right hand flew out and grabbed Negan’s wrist as tight as you could.

“Easy, baby girl.” He said softly.

“Was this you?” You grit out as best as you could as your eyes filled with tears of mixed emotions. You ripped your eyes away from the TV to look at him as he very subtly shook his head. He picked up your white board off your leg and scooted so you could read what he wrote as he wrote and erased it at the same time.

‘Not that… but I may or may not have had a hand in finding the hacker that “broke in” to your security system before I had Big Sam fix the hole he hacked through.’ He looked up at you as he wiped the rest of his message away with his thumb and set the white board and the marker down on your lap. You started to choke on your sobs as you grabbed his shirt and frantically pulled him toward you.

“Thank you.” You sobbed as you wrapped your good arm around him and tangled your fingers in his hair.

“Of course, baby girl. But you gotta stop crying. Gretchie ain’t fucking here and I’m not doing the fucking snot sucker thing.” You huffed a laugh and nodded as he kissed your shoulder and pulled back to grab you a couple tissues. He leaned back to look at you and gently wiped your nose as you reached up to run your fingertips across his cheek. There was so much you wanted to say to him and your face fell the slightest bit since you weren’t able to.

“I love you, too.” He said as he looked up into your green eyes and let his hand fall to the bed. He smiled and chuckled as he tilted his head to the side to study your confused face. “I fucking know everything, baby girl. Don’t give me that look. And I may have overheard you and Jade talking about love and shit yesterday. Well… her half of the conversation at least.” You scowled and gently flicked his nose in response. 

“How about this. Until you can say it out loud, I won’t either. Sound good?” You nodded as you wiped a lone tear off your cheek with the tissues. “OK. By the way, it’s your fucking role, slacker.” You rolled your eyes and held your hand out for the dice as you flipped him off as best as you could with your braced left hand. “Just roll the fucking dice.”

——

“What does this mean?” You asked your new lawyer, James Preston, who was not only Negan’s lawyer, but the best lawyer in Manhattan, as you flipped through the subpoena that had been dropped off that morning. You looked up at him through finally unswollen eyes with your eyebrow raised as you flipped the pages closed on the hospital bed table Gretchen had stolen from work for you. James, understanding you perfectly since you could now actually move your lips and tongue to speak three weeks after the initial accident, crossed his legs on the chair beside your bed and leaned forward on them the slightest bit.

“Because of the video and the statement you gave the police, the state of New York is pressing charges on Nathan for being an accessory to attempted first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, reckless endangerment in the first, and assault in the second. Max sentence for all of them combined would be about twenty years, possibly life. He’s adamantly denying that he was involved despite your initial statement and cell phone records…”

“Even though he’s on video?” You interrupted as you looked up at your new attorney.

“Unfortunately, the video that was shown on the news doesn’t exactly show who was in the cab…”

“They have the wrong video, then.” You said as you hit Negan’s arm and pointed across your body for the house iPad. “Show him the thing.”

“I have had every fucking inch of this place monitored since the day she filed for divorce.” Negan said as he logged into your security system feature on the tablet that literally ran nearly every inch of your house from the pool pump down to the exact temperature of the large wine cooler in your cellar. “There’s four cameras on the fucking front door alone, including this one.” He hit the live view from the camera directly above your front door that showed the area from just in front of your door all the way out to the street. James got up to look at the feed as Negan hit back and pulled up the next live feed.

“This one, too.” You glanced over and looked at the video from the camera that was located on the corner of your house outside the second story window that showed nearly the entire front garden of your house, the stairs leading up to the sidewalk, the sidewalk itself, and half of the street. “I got one in the same spot on the other side of the second story and one on the wall facing the damn door. They all record, 24 fucking 7, and I can have a copy of the videos from that night made for you in fucking twenty minutes.”

“Do that.” James said as he pulled a yellow notepad from his briefcase and started feverishly writing notes. “I’ll need three copies of every angle you have. One for me, and one for each the prosecution and the defense. That’ll make this an open and shut thing.”

“Thank God.” You gasped as you leaned back against your pillows a little more to stop the ache in your hip before it got much worse.

“Has no one come to talk to you about these tapes?” He asked as he glanced up at you.

“Well, I’ve only been able to actually speak for like three days and I was kinda out of it for a while. But no, no one’s come to talk to me about anything other than the initial police report.”

“That’s… well that’s only partially surprising since the main culprit was the chief of police. Now, one final thing. The trial begins on Monday and you are the only person the state is calling that day. You absolutely cannot take any pain killers that day, no matter how much pain you’re in. It can taint your statement and the whole trial could get thrown out. They know you’re going to be in a wheelchair, they know about all broken ribs, and they know that your jaw is wired shut so if you get too upset, they will stop and let you take a break. But this is all stuff the prosecutor will go over with you tomorrow when you meet her at the court house to go over your testimony.” You nodded your head and looked over at Negan as he texted back and forth with Tank, who was getting the camera feeds copied onto discs upstairs in the den.

“This is gunna fucking suck.” He nodded in agreement as he put the iPad on your table and sat on his hip on the bed beside Chewie, who had taken up permanent sleeping residence next to your left hip.

“Two days, baby girl. Two fucking days and it’s done. We fucking got this.” You nodded your head and adjusted the strap of your left arm and shoulder sling.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you sat in your wheelchair in front of the witness stand, waiting patiently for the bailiff to adjust the microphone enough so that it would be able to record your testimony, you realized that you had never actually been on this side of the room before. Sure, you had done your duty as a juror when you were in your early twenties, and you had gone to court with Christian a time or two for moral support on big cases, but you had never been the person on trial or witnessing for one. This past year was full of firsts. You were shaken from your thoughts as the bailiff stood off to your side and put the Bible you needed to swear on as close to your left fingers as possible. You smiled at him and laid your fingers on the hardwood cover.

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you, God?”

“I do.” You replied with a nod. Your eyes found the ADA, Jenna Prescott, who was an old acquaintance of yours, as she stood up from the table.

“How are you today, (Y/N)?” She asked with a smile as she stepped around the table to act as a focal point so you didn’t have to look at Nathan.

“Well, let’s just say I’ve been better.”

“Understandable.” She said with a nod of her head before launching right into her inquiry. “Now, (Y/N). Let’s start from the beginning. Can you tell us what happened first on the night of the incident?”

“I was watching a movie at around 12:30 at night, when I received a call from my lawyer Nathan Riggs, regarding my divorce papers.” You purposely didn’t continue answering the way Jenna had told you the day before.

“And what did he say when he called?”

“He told me that my ex-husband had finally signed the divorce papers I filed.” She nodded as she strolled slowly towards the full jurors box.

“Did he tell you why he called so late to tell you?”

“He told me that he planned on dropping them off in my mailbox, but I told him I didn’t mind coming upstairs from my basement to get them.”

“So you did just that; you went upstairs to get the papers?” You nodded and cleared your throat as you began to fiddle with the top spongey edge of the leg brace that ran from your hip to mid-calf on your left leg through the knee length dress Gretchen had helped you put on that morning.

“I met him at the curb where he was standing outside a cab. We talked about a case he had been late working on, and he told me that his assistant had filed the divorce papers that afternoon. We joked about my meticulous record keeping because I have kept receipts for every single thing I had purchased during my marriage.”

“And why is that?” Jenna prompted.

“Because when my ex-husband and I entered into our marriage, we were on two different financial levels. I was instructed by my financier at the time, who assisted myself, Christian, and Nathan in writing up my prenuptial agreement, that there was no harm in protecting myself because you never know what the future could look like.” She nodded her head as she searched your eyes, knowing that the next part was where things got difficult.

“Ms. (Y/L/N), what happened after Mr. Riggs gave you the divorce papers?”

“He…” You tried but your words lodged in your throat. You blinked back your tears and cleared your throat as you found Negan, who was standing toward the very back of the court room. He gave you a small nod and you looked back up at Jenna. “He got back into his cab and rolled down the window. He told me that he’d see me around… and that he was sorry for this.” She nodded her head as she walked over and grabbed a little remote.

“People’s exhibits one through four, your honor. Security footage of the night in question from the front of Ms. (Y/L/N)’s home. If it’s OK with the court, I’ll only play exhibit one through to the end so that Ms. (Y/L/N) doesn’t have to relive the night more than once.” The judge told her it was OK, and you forced yourself to look anywhere but at the TV that was being rolled closer to the jurors box. You were grateful that the security cameras didn’t have sound but you didn’t need it. From the moment Christian hit your leg with the baton and the jurors all gasped, you could see the entire night play out like a horrific nightmare in your head. 

Tears welled in your eyes and the pain that you had had since four in the morning thanks to your inability to take your pain mens seemed to increase ten-fold. Just as the video was coming to an end, you heard a quick, two tone whistle that Negan did almost subconsciously when he waited for something; the elevator, for dinner to cool, while he stood outside the bathroom door waiting to carry you back to bed. Your head whipped up to look at him and he smiled and mouthed for you to breathe.

“Now, Ms. (Y/L/N). Can you tell the court what your injuries were after that night?” You took a hissed breath through your teeth and took the box of tissues the bailiff was offering you.

“From my head down,” You started as you wiped your nose and the tears off your face. “I had a severe concussion, and he fractured my left cheek and my jaw. So I now have metal plate in my cheek and my jaw is wired shut. My left shoulder, forearm, wrist and hand were all shattered and replaced with pins, rods, screws, and my shoulder was replaced as well. I had seven total broken rips, a hole in my lung and my spleen that caused severe internal bleeding over the nearly four hours I was left to die. My left hip was shattered and had to be replaced, my left knee was also shattered and replaced and my right ankle was broken.” Negan nodded at you as Jenna started the slide show of photos that were taken of you at the hospital.

“People’s exhibits five through thirty.” She said softly.

“Alright, I cave.” Nathan said loudly as he jumped to his feet. “I’ll plead guilty to whatever you want, just please stop making her relive my mistake.” Jenna looked over between him and the judge as she temporarily turned off the TV.

“He pleads guilty to all charges.” Jenna said with a nod. “Minimum of twenty years and loss of his bar status.”

“That’s fine.” Nathan said with a nod. “Fine.”

“Works for me.” The judge said with a nod. “Final sentencing in two weeks. Thank you for your time, Ms. (Y/L/N).” You nodded as you set the tissues on your lap while the bailiff came over to push your wheelchair over to the partition so Negan could intercept your chair. You thanked Jenna on your way past as Nathan was put into hand cuffs on your right. You looked over at him with nearly dead eyes and he bowed his head in shame.

“I won’t say I’m sorry.” He said as he pulled the slightest bit against the officers. “Because I know it doesn’t mean shit. But I will say that I hope you don’t let this change you forever.” 

“Good luck, Nathan.” You responded as you took your purse from your boyfriend and looked away from him. “Can we go home?” Negan nodded as he grabbed the handles of your wheelchair and waited for Tank to clear a path in front of you so that no one could hit your leg.

“Abso-fucking-lutely, baby girl.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Negan…” You breathed as you looked at the two dresses he had picked out for you to wear to his mom’s family dinner. It was going to be the first family event you would be going to and you absolutely didn’t want to meet your boyfriend’s family with an unattractive brace on your knee or your left arm and hand in the most God awful cast in the world. You were grateful that you had the wires and arches taken out of your mouth the week before so eating was something that sort of happened now but this was still not how you wanted to meet them. 

“Sweetheart. We talked about this.” Negan said as he leaned against the dresser in your closet. “You have to go, you look fucking gorgeous, and they aren’t gunna give a shit that you need a cane to walk.”

“You’re not helping!” You said as you glared up at him.

“And you’re not getting dressed.” He retorted. “Baby, we’re gunna be late.” You sighed and reached out for his hand to stand up.

“I hate you right now.” You growled as you grabbed a thin strapped black and flower patterned dress that would hopefully distract from the still bright pink scar on your shoulder and cover most of your knee brace. “Just help me.”

“You’re too hard on yourself, baby.” He said as he took the dress from you and pulled it off the hanger. “You’re gorgeous.” 

“And you’re just trying to butter me up.” You snarked as you let him put the dress over your head.

“Is it working?” He chuckled as he pulled your left arm through the opening as slowly and as carefully as possible since your range of motion wasn’t top notch yet.

“No.” You turned with your back toward him so he could zip you up as you dropped a pair of simple black flats on the floor. He fixed your hair, which you had honestly just blowed dry after your shower, and kneeled down so that he could help you get your feet into the soft soled shoe.

“Alright, let’s go, princess.” You rolled your eyes and grabbed your cane.

“If your mother doesn’t love me, I’m punching you in the fucking throat.” He burst out laughing as you partially limped passed your sleeping pup and out of your closet.

“Will you fucking quit!” He laughed as he snagged your handbag off the bed and jogged to beat you to the elevator. “She’s gunna love you as much as I fucking do.” You grumbled under your breath at him as you rode the elevator downstairs and hobbled out to the waiting SUV. As the car pulled away from the curb to start the long trip to Staten Island to Negan’s childhood home, your boyfriend gently reached out to pull your legs onto his lap.

“Look, I fucking get it.” He said with a nod as he habitually readjusted the straps of your knee brace. “You’re scared. You haven’t left the fucking house in nearly three months, you have been avoiding most people like the fucking plague, and now I’m asking you to fucking have dinner with people you haven’t fucking met before. You have a right to be scared but you know what?” You cocked your eyebrow and looked up at him through your lashes as you fiddled with your cast in your lap. 

“I’m gunna be right fucking there the whole damn time. And Gretchie will be there, too. Yea, my family can be loud and it sure as fuck is giant… but they know what you’ve gone through. They know you’re recovering something traumatic. And I promise you that no one is going to judge you because of your scars or your cane. No one would fucking dare and if they do, they’ll fucking answer to me.” He fixed your dress across your lap and gently reached up to cup your jaw.

“Come back to me, baby girl. I miss my strong, independent, fearless woman. You’re letting that prick fucking tear you down again. Don’t. You’re so much fucking stronger than that. Look at all you’ve accomplished in the past few months. You beat out what they said would be your recovery times and forced yourself to be able to walk faster than any doctor had said you would. You made yourself be independent at home. But now you gotta make yourself be independent out of your home again, too. And ma’s birthday is the safest place you can do that.” You nodded your head and took a slightly shaky deep breath as the car pulled up in front of Gretchen’s apartment.

“OK.” You said softly as you pushed your hair back over your shoulders. “Fine, you win.”

“I fucking always win, baby girl.” He chuckled as his baby sister, her husband, and her two boys came out of their apartment. You could hear Gretchen yelling at her sons as she pulled open the door in front of you to let the kids crawl into the back.

“And I swear to God, if you don’t shut your damn mouth about the fucking thing, I’ll throw every fucking toy you own out and you’ll never get another toy again!” 

“Damn, Gretchie.” Negan laughed as he moved your legs momentarily so they didn’t get bumped. “You sound like ma.”

“I feel like ma.” She said as she pushed back the middle seat and got in next to her brother as her husband, Franco, got into the front seat. “Hi (Y/N). Kids, say hi.” They two kids in the back seat said hello to you and their uncle Negan as Gretchen helped her brother rest your feet across both their laps. She smoothed out your dress with a smile and leaned against the door as her two kids started playing with their Nintendo’s. “I love this dress.”

“Negan picked it out.” You said as you brushed your hand across the fabric. 

“Wrong.” She said with a laugh. “I picked it out. I thought it would bring out the color of your eyes. Which it does.”

“Couldn’t let me have one fucking thing, could you?” Negan chuckled.

“Yea, ‘cause I’m letting you take credit for something I did.” She said as she looked over at him, incredulously. “Not a chance.” He rolled his eyes and rested his hands on your right thigh as the car left Manhattan for the night. The car fell into a comfortable silence until you finally pulled up to the restaurant that had been rented out for the night for the family event.

“Wait for Gretchie.” Negan said as he helped you spin on the seat since your healing hip was still a little sensitive. You nodded your head and tried not to psych yourself out as you pushed open the car door and leaned your cane on the side of the car.

“Is this the famous, (Y/N)?” A woman called out as Gretchen helped you out of the higher car onto the curb. You wanted to look up at her and introduce yourself but making sure you didn’t fall over was a little more pressing at the moment.

“Hey, ma.” Negan said behind you as he held onto your hips while you steadied your weight on your legs as evenly as you could. “This is my angel.” Once you took your first step away from the car, you looked up at the woman who absolutely did not look like she was turning seventy-six, with a smile. She immediately reached up to brush her fingers through your hair to fix it for you with a small smile. Her gorgeous brown eyes searched your face as she adjusted your hair over your shoulders so it sat in cute waves across your skin.

“She’s perfect.” She said as she took a step back with your casted hand held lightly in hers. “I approve of this one.” Your face flushed as Negan stepped up to your side and rested his hand on the small of your back.

“Thanks, ma. Happy birthday.” She nodded and kissed his cheek before turning toward Gretchen to say hi to her daughter. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s go inside.”

——

You didn’t know if you were reading to much into it because of your nerves but Negan definitely acted different toward you around his family. The overprotective, hyper-vigilance was abandoned after a few minutes as his attention was drawn to other members of his massive family. 

His mother, Maria, on the other hand, practically adopted you as her second daughter. She fawned over you every second of the night, from making sure you weren’t standing up too long, to making sure you weren’t in any pain at all. She made sure that the kitchen knew that your plate of lasagna needed cut in small enough pieces so that you didn’t worry about having to do it one handed and so that it would be easier for you to eat with your jaw still healing. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought you were a helpless child again at your uncle Bobby’s house. But surprisingly, it made you feel ten times more comfortable than you expected it to with the family. At least, most of them.

“Have you seen this new fling of his?” A thick accent asked over the sound of the restroom door opening as you were using the bathroom between dinner and dessert. “She’s just hanging all over mama…”

“And that dress.” Another woman said. “Did she miss the memo that wives wear black? It’s just disrespectful…”

“I don’t know.” A third voice said softly as the three women stopped in front of the handicapped stall to check their reflections in the mirror. “I talked to her for a couple minutes and she seems really really sweet. Gretchen says Negan adores her…”

“Yea, probably because of her fake tits.” The first woman laughed as she dug through her bag for something. You huffed to yourself and shook your head as you grabbed the handrail in the stall with your right hand and pulled yourself to your feet so you didn’t have to use your knee too much.

“The tits are real.” You called out as you pulled up your panties and fixed your dress. “And Negan and Gretchen picked out the dress.” With a shake of your head, you flushed, and limped out of the stall with the most fake smile you could muster. “And Mama Marie is being nice to his son’s new girlfriend. I’m not hanging all over her. May I wash my hands, please?” The three women moved from in front of the sink and you gave them a small nod and a soft thanks. The trio stood awkwardly around you and finished fixing their makeup as you dried your hand as best as you could so it wouldn’t slip on your cane.

“I will say though.” You said as you hesitated at the door. The three women looked over their shoulders at you and you simply smiled. “Even if you think I’m being disrespectful, I appreciate you checking me out. Good self-esteem boost to hear my tits still look good.” You turned toward the door and nearly ran head first into Maria, who looked pissed beyond belief.

“What did you say to her?” She demanded as she gently moved you out the door.

“Mama, we didn’t…” The woman that belonged to the second voice you heard tried, only to be cut off when Maria put her hand up.

“Save your breath.” She growled. “You know better.” She followed after you back to the head table and your brow furrowed slightly.

“Am I supposed to be wearing all black?” You asked as you lowered yourself into your chair.

“Well…” She said as she sat down beside you in Negan’s chair. “Usually, yes. It’s a sign of respect for family members that are in jail or that pass away. But you technically aren’t fully family yet. Which is why Gretchie put you in black with a pop of color.” You nodded your head as she waved over Negan with a single drag of her finger. “Don’t worry, sweets. We’ll take care of ya and teach you the ways of the family.” You gave her a soft smile and nodded as she stood up to say something to Negan. You could only make out the words ‘horrendous’, ‘disrespectful’, and ‘breasts’ but by the look on your boyfriend’s face, he was as appalled as his mother was at the women’s actions.

“You OK, baby girl?” He asked as he leaned down to your eye level.

“I’m fine.” He nodded his head once and kissed your forehead.

“Stay with ma.” You nodded at his retreating back as he called out for ‘Paulie’ angrily.

“One thing you never do.” Maria said as she sat back down and reached for her wine glass from her spot on the other side of Negan’s chair. “Never disrespect another member of this family. I won’t stand for it. And my grand nieces should know that by now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” You said as you picked up your water and took a sip as Negan nearly threw the man you expected was Paulie toward the front door. 

“I need you to fucking explain to me…” You heard him roar as the door slowly closed behind him. “Why the fuck your fucking cunt wife is talking shit…” You didn’t realize you had started getting up from the table until Maria put her hand on your shoulder and pushed you back down gently.

“Stay put, baby. My Negan, he’s a good boy, but dealing with the family sometimes is a big job. Being his woman is not an easy task. Lucille tried, God bless her soul, but…”

“Who?” You asked as you looked away from your boyfriend and at his mother.

“Lucille. His ex-wife. Didn’t you know about Lucille?” You shook your head and looked back up at Negan.

“No…” You whispered. “No, I didn’t.”

——

“You’re awful fucking quiet tonight.” Negan said as you lay across the back seat of the SUV on your way home after dinner.

“Just tired.” You said as you played with the gold band Negan hand on his right ring finger like you usually did. You had no idea why it didn’t occur to you before but, now that you really looked at it, it was absolutely a wedding band. Negan hummed and slowly nodded his head as he searched your face.

“Sure you’re not fucking upset about what those bitches said?” You huffed and shook your head as you looked up to meet his eyes.

“No, baby. I’m fine.” He nodded again as the car pulled up to the curb in front of your house, and you could tell he wasn’t buying what you were selling. He helped you drop your legs to the ground and passed you your cane as Tank came around the car to help you out.

“The fuck did my ma say to you?” You hated that your slight hesitation gave you away but you still shook your head.

“Nothing worth while.” You could almost feel him fuming behind you for blatantly lying to you as you slowly made your way down the front stairs and into your house. But it wasn’t until you hit the elevator that he figured it out.

“Ah, fuck. She fucking told you about fucking Lucille.” You huffed a humorless laugh as you limped into the elevator and shook your head.

“The fact that she did and you didn’t in the six months we’ve been together is what is really fucking upsetting, Negan.” 

“Yea because you’re an open fucking book…”

“I am an open fucking book, Negan!” You shouted as the elevator stopped on your floor. “You know fucking everything about me down to my Goddamn deodorant and panty preference. What do I know about you? Fucking nothing. I don’t know the apparent rules about being your girlfriend, I don’t know the fucking fact that you were fucking married. I don’t know fucking shit! So don’t you dare get all self righteous on me.” You stepped out of your dress and threw your strapless bra across the bathroom before turning on the tub. “You have no fucking right.”

“I have no fucking right?” He asked as you snatched your plastic cast cover off the counter. “I have to… don’t you fucking get in that fucking tub!”

“Make me get out of it!” You shouted as you threw your knee brace at him and awkwardly maneuvered yourself into the bath.

“Well I’m not fucking getting you out of it.” He retorted. “And I got all the fucking right in the world to keep my fucking life private…”

“Not from me!” You screamed. “Not from me!” He angrily threw his hands up in the air and stormed out of the bathroom with a growled shout.

“Enjoy sleeping in the fucking bathtub!” You rolled your eyes and grabbed a lavender bath bomb from the basket hanging off the side of the bathtub.

“Don’t worry, I will.” You said you to yourself as you dropped the bomb in the hot water and turned off the faucet. You sighed and laid your head on the pillow you had attached to the tub to close your eyes for a few minutes and let the heat workout the stress knots and pain from your bones. Which is exactly where Negan found you three hours later.

“Goddamn it.” He growled as he pulled the chain for the stopper and let the water out as he rolled up his sleeves. He laid a towel down on the sheets and came back into the room while grumbling under his breath since he knew he was gunna have to do this. He gently pulled you out of the receding water with a shake of his head and carried you into the bedroom. “Fucking… fuck.” He said as he laid you down on your side of the bed and toweled you dry. “Why the fuck… just… fuck…” He threw the top towel and the cast cover into the bathroom and pulled the covers up over you. “Pain in my fucking ass.” He continued to swear as he stripped down to his boxers, got in on his side of the bed, and glanced over to make sure Chewie was in his bed.

“Your mommy is a fucking thorn in my side right fucking now.” He said as he flipped off the lights. “But she’s fucking right.”

——

You knew Negan had caved and carried you to bed when the towel underneath you scratched at your skin when you stretched under the sheets. You could hear him breathing beside you but you knew by the sound of it that he wasn’t asleep. You moved your left hand across the bed and he sighed as he moved his right hand out toward yours.

“I’d just turned fucking 20.” He grumbled softly. “Had no fucking business getting married. I was just a fucking kid and we were fucking high school sweethearts. Just Goddamn kids. She had no idea what she was fucking marrying into. She lasted about three years before she took off. Moved to fucking France on my dime. And I just fucking wrote her off. Told people she had fucking kicked it. Shut my fucking heart behind a mother fucking wall and didn’t dare think twice about letting that wall down. Not until last night.” You rolled your head on the pillow to look at him in the darkened bedroom as he carefully laced his fingers with yours.

“My ma is the only person that knew the fucking truth about that back stabbing cunt. And she would never, ever fucking bring her up unless she was fucking sure that that person was fucking serious about me. Her fucking telling you about Lucille is her subtle fucking way of telling me to get my fucking head out of my ass about you. You know, I laid here all fucking night asking myself why the fuck I wasn’t letting you in after everything we’ve fucking been through together so far. And I didn’t have a fucking answer. Not a single Goddamn word. So, starting today, I’ll let you in if you still fucking wanna be in.” The second you nodded your head, he let go of your hand, moved it to lay across your stomach, and scooted across the mattress to wrap his arms around you. You reached up with your good hand and tangled your fingers in his hair as you kissed his forehead.

“Old Spice.” He said after a few moments. “Original fucking Old Spice and Calvin Klein’s boxer briefs.” Your smile grew as you rested your cheek on his head.

“Thank you.” He nodded his head and kissed your scared shoulder with a smile.

“Of course, baby girl.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So what the fuck are you dragging me to again?” Negan called out from your bathroom that he had partially taken over as you tried on yet another dress; a cream colored dress with an intricate red pattern.

“It’s an art auction for St. Jude.” You called out as you walked over Chewie and his shoe shaped squeaky toy. “And I have had my eye on this painting of New York by a man named Van Tame for weeks to go in the library to replace that God awful one above the fire place. What about this one?” Negan looked at you through the mirror as he brushed his teeth and shook his head.

“Too naked. I like the white one.” You rolled your eyes as you looked at yourself in the mirror, only partially agreeing with the nearly naked aspect of it.

“What about that long green grey-ish one? I really like that one.”

“Fuckin’ green one would make it a little easier for you to walk, baby girl.” He said as you headed back into the closet to change once again. “And you could get away with fucking flats.” You nodded in agreement as you stepped over Chewie again and took off the naked dress. “What do you think the painting’s going for?”

“It’s estimated about twenty-five grand. But I know that bitch, Lady Ratchet cunt face is going to do everything she can to out bid me for it. She does it every fucking year.”

“So I’ll fucking kill her.” Negan said easily, causing you to laugh as you slipped the dress over your head, being mindful of of your already finished up-do.

“You’re not gunna kill her, baby.” You giggled as you lifted your dress and headed out of the closet so he could zip you up. “That mob shit doesn’t work on the Upper East.”

“Well it fucking could.” He chuckled as he zipped up the A-line, transparent lace dress.

“Not today.” You said in a sing song voice as you stepped into your black flats and turned to finish your makeup since you settled on your dress. “Today, you are an upstanding gentleman.”

“How fucking boring.” He joked as he grabbed his shirt and tie off the door knob. “Is this how it’s always gunna be?”

“Very much so.” You said as you held out your mascara for him to twist the top for you since your left hand wasn’t completely up to par but at least sans cast. “I miss my boring life, thank you. Getting your ass handed to you takes a lot outta a girl.”

“Yea, her fucking boyfriend, too.” He agreed with a smirk. “Carrying you around all the fucking time…” You scowled at him through the mirror as he slowly tied his tie in front of his chest.

“You’re an asshole.” He chuckled and finished his tie so he could close your mascara for you.

“You fucking love me all the same.” You threw on some red lipstick and smacked your lips together before turning to Negan with a smile. “Ready?”

“To be fucking tortured? No.”

——

“Lot number 119. ‘Street Scene on Fifth Avenue’ by Van Tame.”

“This one.” You said softly as you sat up a little straighter in your chair to see the painting you were there to purchase. You could see Ms. Bradbury sit up a little when you did out of the corner of your eye as the painting was set on the easel at the front of the room. “Fuck you, bitch. It’s mine.” You said under your breath as you picked up your paddle.

“Let me see it.” Negan said beside you as he took the paddle from your hand. “See if she’s willing to go fucking toe to toe with me.”

“Don’t go over two million.” You said softly as the starting bid was set at fifteen grand.

“I’ll go as high as she’ll fucking run it but I’m winning this damn painting for you.” He said as he raised your paddle for seventeen grand. You glanced over Mrs. Bradbury, who looked as confused as ever as she raised her paddle for seventeen seventy-five. A smug smile stretched across your face as you sat back in your chair while Negan placed the next bid at eighteen twenty-five.

“I think she’s scared of you.” You whispered as a woman a few rows in front of you placed the next bid only for her husband to scold her softly for doing so.

“She fucking better be.” He said as he placed nineteen thousand. Mrs. Bradbury went to lift her paddle in the air and Negan’s head whipped over in her direction. His eyes narrowed threateningly as she placed the nineteen twenty-five bid and she startled as she looked back over at you. He raised your paddle for the next twenty five hundred dollar jump and silently dared her to continue. You looked away from her with a smile that threatened to break your cheeks as the final call for bids was announced.

“Sold to the gentleman in the back of the room.”

“There you go, baby girl.” Negan said proudly as he handed you back your paddle.

“You are my painting savior.” You said as you grabbed your handbag from the chair beside you and tapped his side. “Come on. Let’s pay and go celebrate our victory.”


End file.
